Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring
By bringing Britten’s small-scale, razor-eyed comedy Albert Herring to Salford, English National Opera has done more than tour a show, it has fired the starting pistol on its Northwest era. These Lowry dates mark the company’s first Greater Manchester outing on the road to its new home, and the symbolism lands before a note is played. The theatre buzzed with a younger and livelier audience than is usual for an opera night at the Lowry, and there was a tangible sense of anticipation for what lies ahead.
Antony McDonald’s staging is tightly focused. With no chorus and a small orchestra, the comedy is allowed to breathe, and Britten’s sharp-eyed satire on small-town surveillance cuts cleanly through the Lowry’s acoustic. Some London critics found the concept more functional than transformative, yet here in Salford it reads as economical, humane, and freshly observed, drawing our eyes to the social pecking order of Loxford and the ways Britten so expertly skewers it.
As Albert, Caspar Singh gives a clear, unaffected performance, portraying the title role with unshowy charm. Emma Bell’s Lady Billows is grand, while Dan D’Souza and Anna Elizabeth Cooper make a conspiratorial and charismatic Sid and Nancy. A special mention must go to the children’s trio, handled with delightful precision. Emmie (Abigail Sinclair) and Cis (Natasha Solbury) are cheeky, curious, and endlessly watchable, their scenes with Harry (Lucian Flutter) forming a comic thread that spies on the adults, mocks their moral pretensions, and punctures the village’s pomposity. Their presence is a reminder of Britten’s gift for drawing vivid characters, even in miniature.
Under Daniel Cohen’s baton, the 14-piece orchestra sparkles. The textures are lean and transparent, the clockwork rhythms crisp. Woodwind chatter, string flickers and delicate percussion details are perfectly placed, capturing both the sparkle and the sting in Britten’s score. Despite the reduced forces, the sound never feels small, only more focused, more precise.
If there’s a quibble, it’s that the semi-staged aesthetic occasionally underplays the farce. A few comic set-ups could use a bolder push to release the full belly laughs. But these are minor issues in an otherwise deftly handled evening. By Act III, the humour darkens and the satire deepens: a village eager to police innocence discovers the thrill of its own cruelty. To me this section, singled out by several London critics, emerges in Salford as the production’s moral centre, sharp, uncomfortable, and brilliantly observed.
Context, of course, is everything. ENO is amid a major relocation, maintaining its London presence while building a permanent home in Greater Manchester. Albert Herring was always intended as part of that bridge-building. Choosing Britten’s 1947 “coming-of-age” opera for the company’s Northwest debut is inspired, affordable to tour, rich in ensemble roles, and as timely as ever in its questions about who gets to define virtue.
As a curtain-raiser for ENO’s future in the Northwest, this Albert Herring feels both symbolic and sincere, a smart, funny, and human statement of intent.
The Lowry dates are brief, but they make the case that smaller-scale ENO can be both artistically sharp and regionally rooted. Welcome to Greater Manchester ENO! As a first step towards a permanent home in the Northwest, it’s a promising sign!
Dean Thomas-Lowde for Canal St Media