On 17th June 2011 thirteen BBCM children attended a performance of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Below see their reviews.

Peter Grimes is a fisherman who thinks he can do better than everybody else and become rich soon. One boy worked very hard for him and died on the boat. Now nobody likes him and everybody is scared of him. Only Ellen thinks she can help him by loving him and caring for him. He gets a second boy to help him. Grimes asks him to work hard again. The boy slips and falls into the sea. Ellen is unhappy. Grimes leaves with his boat into the sea and never returns.
This is a very sad story told with beautiful music. I liked Swallow with his loud and strict voice and the trombones that played with it. My favourite was the «sea» music but I was afraid of the music of the storm. All musicians played brilliantly. Everything on the stage was black or grey and the sky was always cloudy. This made me feel sad. I thought everybody was sad. I don’t know how to help Peter Grimes and would not like to work for him but I loved the music and will tell all my friends to go and see it.
Angelos Terizakis, age 5

We saw Peter Grimes on Friday 17th June and I had a very nice time. I have to stay I was almost scared from time to time. I remember in particular one piece - my mother said it was the Sea Interlude "Storm"- and also I found the atmosphere and the decor sad and dark.
I liked very much the singing of the mistress, Ellen Orford, whom I found very moving.
And also the ice creams were delicious, as always! Thanks for taking us to the Royal Opera House again.
Naomi Walden, age 6

I was very excited to go and see Peter Grimes at the Royal Opera House after my mummy showed me a scene from the production on YouTube. The scene was of Peter Grimes looking very sad and a little crazy whilst singing! I thought he looked funny. When we arrived at our seat to watch the show I was looking around with amazement as the Royal Opera House is beautiful and very grand. When the show began, the music came alive and made the whole place come alive too. It felt pretty magical to me and made me feel warm inside. The singing was loud and powerful. In the story a young boy was killed at sea and everybody in the town blamed Peter Grimes. This made me feel sad for him because I don’t think he meant to kill the boy, my eyes were watering. There was only one lady who believed Peter Grimes and she was kind and sang beautifully. The show was quite long but we were able to have a break and ice-cream which was nice. When I was looking around at the people watching the show they all seemed to be fixed. I think most of them were really enjoying it because it was quite gripping. I am really happy that I went to see the show as I enjoyed it very much and thought about it a lot when I went home. I hope I can go to the opera house again soon and thank you Agnes for taking me.
Sonny McGuinness Harding, aged 6

On Friday 17th June I saw Peter Grimes opera at the Royal Opera House. I went with Agnes and my older sister Molly and some of the other children who go to BBCM.
The orchestra sat in the pit so we couldn’t se the musicians but we could hear the music.
I liked the man who was playing Peter Grimes; he was a good singer and a good actor. Everyone thinks Peter Grimes has killed his apprentice but really he died of thirst. In the story he gets very angry and when that happened, his singing was very strong and the music was very big and emotional. I really liked the boy who was his apprentice too even though he didn’t sing, because he was a really good actor and he has to be on stage for a long time. The boy falls down the cliff and Peter Grimes drowns in his boat.
My favourite bit was when Peter Grimes was carrying the boy. Also I liked the part in the beginning when lots of people carried a chair with a man sitting in it, and everyone looked serious and Peter Grimes had his back turned to all the people because he was cross. I liked when there was storm and I heard big drums, lots of violins and other instruments too so I think the whole orchestra was playing. I remember there was also one violin playing alone very sadly. My mum says this is called a solo and that it was a viola playing, which is a big violin.
There was a big dance where everyone was dancing really fast and they looked silly because they were wearing animal masks and dancing around. I couldn’t see all of the costumes because they were at the back.
Joseph Teague, age 6

Peter Grimes is a sad story which happens in a grey place. I liked the opera as much as Hansel and Gretel. Sad stories seem to make very good operas. The music in Peter Grimes described what the scene was like and how the people were feeling. The sea in the story has different moods and so do the characters. One tune like a funny arpeggio played on the clarinet made me think of a bird flying over the sea. On stage there was almost no colour in the opera. Just lots of different greys. The music in Peter Grimes reminded me of Holst's The Planets because Holst and Britten both paint pictures with music.
Miles Camilleri, age 7

I went to the Royal Opera House to watch Peter Grimes. Before I went, I couldn’t picture what it would be like. It was a fantastic opera and I recommend it to you. It’s about a man who is hated by all the other villagers in the Borough. Peter Grimes is a fisherman and one day he loses his first apprentice while fishing. Then the story is about him getting a new apprentice and how he also dies while climbing down a ladder. The people in the village never liked Peter Grimes. And when his apprentices die, they blame him for it. And they went out for blood. I think Peter Grimes is okay sometimes in the story and the rest not so good. He is not always bad and I think that the villagers don’t really know what he is like deep down.
I enjoyed the music, especially when it gets lively when exciting moments come. For example, it happened when Peter Grimes was trying to get into the pub and the other villagers didn’t want him to come in. I noticed during the opera that all the music sounded very similar, a lot of it was very high. There was a mixture of voices in the opera. Peter Grimes had a low voice and his friend Ellen had a high voice. All the cast sang very well.
I really liked it when the cast all bowed at the end because this was one of the only cheerful moments in the opera. I have learnt that rock music is not the only good music.
Asa Campbell, age 7

On Friday June 17th, I went to see Peter Grimes at the Royal Opera House with some of my friends from my music school, the BBCM, and my music teacher, Agnes Kory.
Peter Grimes is an English opera in one prologue and three acts by Benjamin Britten. The libretto is by Montagu Slater, after George Crabbe’s poem The Borough, which is also the title of Act I, scene I.
I really liked the music because it worked well with the speeches. I thought it was really beautiful and made me feel a little dreamy.
I noticed there weren’t many props on stage but the sets often changed.
Although the story is about a fisherman, Peter Grimes, you don’t often see the sea pictured in the sets, except during the big storm where you see the rough sea in the background.
As far as the costumes are concerned, the villagers all wear very dark clothes throughout act I and act II, but there is a major change in the Evening Dance scene, which is the first scene in Act III.
Indeed, in this scene, pretty much every one changes costume for the evening dance. There are women in bright red dresses and men wearing suits and white shirts and some even wear animal masks.
I like the choreography of some scenes but sometimes I thought it was a bit confusing.
But from a choreography point of view, the scene I liked most was Act I, scene I, because more people were on stage and nearly always gathered in a big group. I enjoyed the weird atmosphere of the scene.
From a singing and musical point of view, the scene I remember most and which I found beautiful was when you hear the church choir.
It was the second opera I saw at the Royal Opera House and it was very different in style from the first one I saw in September 2010 which was Don Pasquale, by Donizetti.
Scipio Zamparo, age 7

I really enjoyed the opera Peter Grimes. When I was listening to it first on my I-pod I enjoyed the music. In the Opera House I felt like humming along with some of the ongs. I could easily follow what was happening; like in the scene when people were blown into the pub by the storm at closing time. I didn’t mind when the surtitles stopped working, because I understood everything. (?)I enjoyed the song: “Keep your hands to yourself!” The two ladies in colourful dresses had nice, silky dresses; while everyone else was wearing grey and black clothes. The stage and most of the outfits were grey. I didn’t think Peter Grimes was really guilty, as everyone in the town thought so. The first child and Peter Grimes run out of water while out on the sea. The boy was sick and died of thirst. It was not Peter Grimes’ fault that the second child fell of the mountain. It only happened because the storm caused a landslide outside Peter Grimes’ hut. The singing was beautiful and I really enjoyed the whole thing. The music was fantastic!
Abigail Aradi-Posylkin, age 8

My favourite part of the opera was when they had the masked party and all of the background was red; I thought it was really funny.
Alexander Leonce-Weekes, age 9

The Royal Opera House has a huge auditorium and as we entered we saw lots of school children as this was the school’s performance of Peter Grimes. In the theatre everyone went silent, the orchestra started, the curtains lifted and Peter Grimes began.
First of all I liked every bit of the show from when finding my seat all the way through to the end. I knew what was happening because we had been reading about the story of Peter Grimes and watched on You tube clips so we knew it very well which really helped when we saw the performance. One part of the show I recognised from You Tube was when Peter was singing in the pub and the boy was about to come in. Peter seemed sad and frustrated, everyone tries to move away from him and he seems lonely – he sings a sad aria on his own while the other villagers just watch him and chatting quietly to themselves.
Peter Grimes is a fisherman from a small village who the villagers don’t like because they believe he has killed his apprentice, but really he died of thirst. No one believes Peter, except the schoolteacher whom he loves. Also the performance had subtitles so I could follow the dialogue but it was quite high up so a bit hard for my brother Joseph to read.
The conductor waved his baton and the orchestral music began first. The first scene was set in the village hall. Peter came on carrying a box with the dead apprentice inside. All the villagers kept singing “Peter Grimes, Peter Grimes” One man got very angry and had to be restrained by his friends. Others looked and turned away in disgust. There was a stubborn old woman who didn’t want to go into the pub, she was really funny when she sang “I’ve never been in a pub in my life!” I also really liked when the school mistress sat down quietly with the boy, singing calmly and her voice was very clear and strong, she knew what she was doing – until the boy took off his coat and she sees he has a bruise on his neck and she says “John what are you trying to hide?” And she tries to get him to show her, very upset singing “Peter what have you done?”
In between the action, the opera had parts that were just music – the village coming to life, a storm. At the end, I liked the part when the boy and Peter were together because Peter was being kind to the boy and the music went quiet and gentle so it seemed like the singing was almost like talking. I could hear violins softly.
Molly Teague, age 9

I really enjoyed watching and listening to Peter Grimes because it was really well acted and sung. It had an interesting story, but I found it a bit hard to follow. At the beginning, in the court scene I didn’t think Peter Grimes was guilty. His apprentice died of thirst and was not murdered, as the town people thought so. It is sad how all the people dislike him and suspicious of him. He only has two friends, Ellen, the school teacher and Balstrode, the retired captain. Ellen trusts him and tries to help him. Unfortunately the second apprentice also dies. The child was not killed by Peter Grimes, but was not very well looked after him, either. Peter Grimes does not seem to talk to the boy or care about him much. He does not look like a very gentle person. My favourite scene was when the jersey that Ellen had knitted for the apprentice was put on a cross while Peter Grimes goes to the sea to sink his own boat with himself on it. He was told to do so by his retired fisherman friend. In an earlier scene he was going crazy and started seeing the dead apprentice in front of himself. He decides to commit suicide as suggested by his friend. The story was quite sad but interesting. I think that out of all the operas I saw this was one of the best.
Adam Aradi-Posylkin, age 10

On the 17th June 2011, I (along with my music class) went to see Peter Grimes at the Royal Opera House in London. This is what I thought of it.
I really enjoyed the orchestra’s playing in the sea interludes, especially Dawn and Sunday Morning. I liked Dawn because there was a violin tune they repeated throughout the interlude, and that really gave the feeling of Dawn. In the Sunday Morning interlude the French horns gave the impression of Sunday bells ringing. I think the one that was most exciting and that sounded most like its title was Storm, because the heavy drums really sounded like thunder. All the characters were good actors, especially the boy who played Peter’s apprentice! I think Ben Heppner did a good job of acting in the final scene, where Peter Grimes has gone mad. It was interesting the way that although the character was often mean, you felt sympathetic towards him in the end.
All of the instruments sounded very nice, and the way the music was played in a scene really suited what was going on. The music was less tuneful than in other operas I have seen, and you didn’t come away humming the tunes. Out of all of the singing, I preferred it when all of the chorus were singing together. Everyone in the opera was a very good singer, so it would be impossible to pick a favourite.
The scenery was very simple and plain, so simple that sometimes they changed it while the curtain was up! But this was quite clever, as it represents the life of a fisherman, which is tough and spartan. The sets were mostly dark and grey, which reflected the sad mood of the opera, except for the scene in the pub where the people wore red costumes. I didn’t understand why they wore animal masks in this scene.
Overall, I think Peter Grimes is very good and would recommend it to anyone age 6 or over.
Conor Reynolds, age 10

On Friday 17th June, the children of the Bela Bartok Centre for Musicianship went to watch the Benjamin Britton opera, Peter Grimes.
The play is based around an English fisherman named Peter Grimes in a small village. The opera began with Peter Grimes on trial because of being accused of the murder of his apprentice, which he didn’t do. But, soon after, he was given a new apprentice and treated him rather badly.
Whist having his second apprentice, the whole village (accept from Ellen) decided to turn against Peter. Meanwhile, Peter dreamed of marrying Ellen and leaving the village, so worked tirelessly day and night to get enough money to leave. At one point, when the villagers (including Ellen) came to raid his house, he and his apprentice ran, but, in the process, the boy dropped and fell to his death. In the end, Peter couldn’t take the pressure and went out to see and sunk the boat. All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed the opera Peter Grimes and can’t wait for the next one.
I would also like to add about how brilliant I thought the music was (singers and orchestra). My favourite piece of music in the play had to be when they were all in the church plotting against Peter; this was my favourite part because it was so dramatic. My other favourite part of the opera was when Peter was in his house with the apprentice singing about how he longed to leave the village. I really enjoyed this part because it was one time when you saw the good side of Peter.
Joshua Leonce-Weekes, age 11

Below see Miles’ review – fifth from the top – in the original: