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St. Louis Symphony Celebrates Britten’s 100th With ‘Peter Grimes’ In Carnegie Hall

Alex Irvin
Anthony Dean Griffey and Susanna Phillips in a semi-staged performance of "Peter Grimes" at the Aspen Music Festival on July 27, 2013

David Robertson, the St. Louis Symphonyand Chorus and a cast of vocal soloists led by tenor Anthony Dean Griffey and soprano Susanna Phillips traveled to New York City this week to perform a concert version of Benjamin Britten’s “Peter Grimes.”  The November 22nd performance marks the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth. St. Louisans were treated to a preview performance on November 16 in Powell Hall.

All told, 250 musicians made the trip to New York for the Carnegie performance. Cityscape host Steve Potter checked in with St. Louis Symphony Vice President for External Affairs Adam Crane just moments before the rehearsal on the Carnegie Hall stage began. 

Crane commented on the logistical challenges of performing “Peter Grimes” on the Carnegie  stage. “This is a complicated production given the staging – there’s some staging and acting and a lot of movement on the stage and not a lot of space.  Our stage at Powell Hall is actually bigger than the stage here at Carnegie Hall, so we’ve had to make some adjustments.”

Cityscape is produced by Mary Edwards and Alex Heuer, hosted bySteve Potter and funded in part by the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis, the Regional Arts Commission and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.

Mary Edwards is a producer for St. Louis Public Radio's broadcast program, "St. Louis Symphony."