Nautical or Not, ‘Billy’ Moves in Powerful Ways

I was astounded to read Felice Picano’s statements trashing the L.A. Opera production of “Billy Budd” (“All Is Not Shipshape With ‘Billy Budd,’ ” June 12). I was there opening night, and what I saw was inspirational and moving, not “unwatchable.”

From the moment the curtain went up, it was obvious that this was not going to be a literal production with a lifelike man-of-war sitting on stage--and thank God for that! Britten’s music is abstract and so is the production, which, after all, is a memory in the mind of the captain.

Whether people on the stage were literally above or below other people on the stage is nit-picking nonsense when you look at the total dramatic sweep of this production. I never thought for a moment that the captain’s chambers were literally “below decks,” nor did I care.

To fault the production for not literally unfurling sails when the sailors sing “Heave-Ho” is also taking hyper-realism to the extreme. If that is what Picano wants, he should go to the movies, where they do that quite nicely.

He states that he would have preferred a bunch of neatly uniformed sailors standing in “discrete blocks” on the deck. We have all seen that kind of chorus work in traditional opera productions, and it is as boring and staid on the stage as it sounds on this page. Thank heavens Francesca Zambello had her chorus doing something meaningful (stylized and choreographed, no doubt) to convey the feelings of the music rather than the literal business of the ship.

Picano reveals how petty his notes get when he complains that no one on the ship had guns. I thought the standoff between the crew and the officers was more powerful because they were not brandishing weapons. They had the power and that was obvious.

Everyone has the right to his opinion, but instead of taking the striking “Billy Budd” of the L.A. Opera on its own terms, Picano obviously went with some pre-conceived movie playing in his head. And, rather than allowing what was on stage to inspire him, he sat there angered that it did not meet his criteria. What an unfortunate way to experience art.

ESQUIRE JAUCHEM

Venice

I am in complete agreement with Picano’s thesis. Directors are ruining opera by taking extreme liberties with the composer’s intentions.

MYRON D. OAKES

San Marino

Has Felice Picano ever actually read the synopsis or libretto of “Billy Budd” by Benjamin Britten? He complains that the L.A. Opera production has the crew swabbing the deck instead of men “clearly unfurling large sails upon which they are about to sail.” From the synopsis: “Main deck and quarter deck of the Indomitable. The crew are scrubbing the deck.” From the libretto: “Stains on the deck of a 74 [a British warship]/Get ‘em off.”

How silly of the director to actually follow the instructions in the libretto.

JIM ALLEN

Los Angeles

Picky, picky, picky! Picano has totally lost his ability to use his imagination.

I went to see “Billy Budd” purely as an exercise in broadening my horizons; I did not expect to like it. But, instead, I found it to be one of the most profound experiences that I have had in opera. It was a total unity of story, music, singers and orchestra. To write a whole article about the lack of nautical exactitude is laughable.

Picano should just save his money and skip stage productions altogether.

LESLIE RICHARDSON

Fullerton

Felice Picano is spot-on in his comments about the excellent performances, which we should all go and see, being marred by auteur-twaddle. However, he did not mention the worst example.

A classic sign of twaddle is meaningless or even misleading action onstage, particularly during the musical interludes. One can ignore the silly climbing in the rigging between scenes and even the spectral old man Vere onstage during the hanging, but director Francesca Zambello really crossed the line in the court-martial.

After Billy is convicted, Capt. Vere says he will communicate the sentence of the court to Billy and agonizes over what to say. He then goes offstage into the room where Billy is waiting. Nobody remains onstage. Melville will not tell us what was said: “. . . what took place at this interview was never known.” Melville speculates: “. . . [he] may in end have caught Billy to his heart, even as Abraham may have caught young Isaac on the brink of resolutely offering him up in obedience to the exacting bequest.”

This is a defining moment for Melville--an epiphany for Billy and Capt. Vere. Britten, Forster and Crozier agree. The meeting must take place, and it must be without words and without action. Britten conveys the moment with the famous sequence of 34 chords.

So why does Zambello have Billy taken up onto the gun deck and chained down during the end of the court-martial? Why does Capt. Vere plod up to the gun deck, walk halfway across the stage and then turn away without having this meeting? Why does this highly misleading action take place over the 34 chords of redemption?

It must have confused the audience new to the work--especially since there were no program notes (a first, I think)--when Billy and Vere sang after the trial about contentment and the “love that passes understanding.” Where could that have come from? Not from this director.

My advice? When Vere begins his monologue after the verdict, close your eyes and let the music speak. You may be moved to tears.

Let’s just hope Zambello is not directing “Peter Grimes” next year.

Otherwise we can all look forward to yacht races during the four Sea Interludes.

CHARLES BRAGG JR.

Santa Monica

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