Benjamin Britten: Gloriana

Soloists:

Lynda Russell, Elizabeth Vaughn, Sarah Walker

Orchestra, choir:

English National Opera Choir and Orchestra

Conductor:

Mark Elder

Director:

Colin Graham

Gloriana was born when Benjamin Britten was asked to compose an opera in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953. He took as his starting point Lytton Strachey's Elizabeth and Essex, which had greatly interested him when he first read it. He immediately saw its potential as a subject for an opera, and the coronation provided him with a suitable opportunity to return to it. The tragic relationship between the aging queen and the brilliant young Earl of Essex provided Britten with a wide field for his strong theatrical sense, and this opera combines magnificent scenes with private reflections. This contrast vividly illustrates Queen Elizabeth's dilemma – the conflict between duty and personal love. The opera depicts the downfall of the Earl of Essex, who, relying on his privilege as the queen's favorite, forces them both into tragedy. Elizabeth I never forgot that she was queen and that, as a woman, she had to prove that she could rule as decisively and resolutely as a man, so she felt it was her duty to sentence Essex to death when he betrayed her and endangered the country.