The Turn of the Screw

The Turn of the Screw is a 20th century English chamber opera composed by Benjamin Britten with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, based on the novella The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. The world premiere of the opera was given on September 14th, 1954, at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice during the Biennale festival. The original recording was made during that year, with the composer himself conducting. At the time of the première, the opera was claime... more

The Turn of the Screw is a 20th century English chamber opera composed by Benjamin Britten with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, based on the novella The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. The world premiere of the opera was given on September 14th, 1954, at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice during the Biennale festival. The original recording was made during that year, with the composer himself conducting. At the time of the première, the opera was claimed to be one of the most dramatically appealing English operas. In two acts, it has a prologue and sixteen scenes, each preceded by a variation on the twelve-note 'Screw' theme. In places, strange and out of the ordinary intervals can be heard, as well as character themes such as "The Ceremony of Innocence is Drowned" sung by Miss Jessel and Peter Quint. A singer known as Prologue tells about a young governess (who remains unnamed throughout the opera) he once knew who cared for two children at Bly House. She had been hired by their uncle and... less