The Turn of the Screw, Opera by B. Britten
Benjamin Britten's much-admired opera, The Turn of the Screw, takes place at Rome's Teatro Costanzi in a run of performances. Featuring the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma Orchestra and just six vocalists in the cast, this opera is made up of a prologue followed by two acts. Often referred to as a chamber opera, The Turn of the Screw was the third work Britten wrote in this sub-genre following The Rape of Lucretia in 1946 and Albert Herring in 1947. Based on a gothic novella of the same name by Henry James, Britten's version is just as eerily ambiguous as the original.
The Turn of the Screw was first performed in Italy at Venice's La Fenice on 14 September 1954 under the baton of the composer himself. Britten asked Myfanwy Piper, an art critic and writer, to provide the libretto. Her contribution brings to the fore the themes of corruption and innocence that are to be found in James' short story, ones that Britten's scoring seizes upon to full effect. The ambiguity of some of the story is developed, for example, by the composer's use of themes which vary and build throughout the orchestration, sometimes over the opera's full extent. Britten's skill with musical structure was highly developed by this time in his career and some of his tonal choices and deliberate dissonance are hallmarks of his style. Audience-goers often find that the twelve-note ‘Screw’ theme, which is heard toward the end of the prologue, is a shining example of this sort of composition.
The prologue is, in effect, a performance of a written account of events. A young woman tells of her accepting a role in a grand house to look after two children and how this was only allowed after she had agreed to never contact their guardian. In the first act, a governess is met by a housekeeper and is introduced to the household's children whom she must care for and educate. One of the children, it turns out, has been expelled from their school while a mysterious man, later discovered to be a valet, is spotted in a tower. Later the governess sees the former governess, Miss Jessel, but the housekeeper explains that the valet and Jessel are dead. Both children subsequently unsettle the new governess further, one singing a disturbing song while the other, younger one says she thinks she can see ghosts.
With a ghostly storyline, The Turn of the Screw is much more than a journey into the supernatural, offering audiences a more nuanced experience with some tense, psychological themes. Can the governess protect the children in her care? Audiences at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma will no doubt thrill at the conclusion of events in Act Two.