A British hero revived
Lennox Berkeley’s once celebrated Nelson is a truly dramatic work ripe for rediscovery
L Berkeley
Nelson
David Johnston, Eiddwen Harrhy,
Brian Rayner Cook et al; BBC Singers;
BBC Symphony Orchestra/elgar Howarth Lyrita SRCD 2392 130:27 mins (2 discs)
This 1983 BBC studio production revived an opera which, although successful at its first run in 1954, was virtually ignored in the following years, an era when Britten held operatic sway. Berkeley doesn’t altogether escape his friend’s musical influence, but there’s an inherent flow to the drama, which deals with the relationship between Nelson and Emma Hamilton. David Johnston leads a strong British cast, and inhabits the title role with confidence, if not always tonal sophistication, as the music moves between recitative, rhythmic tension and the lyrical, especially in the love duets with Eiddwen Harrhy’s Emma. There’s room for black comedy as well, in Mary Thomas’s palm-reading servant, who prophesises that Nelson will have to choose between duty and love, and the ensembles in Act II, where the Nelsons and Hamiltons try to sort out their complex feelings, are full of characterisation and variety. The scene of Nelson’s death occupies only the central part of Act III, framed by orchestral interludes reflecting the Battle of Trafalgar, and is sombre and reflective. It’s the most effective part of the score, tightly conducted throughout. ★★★★