Photo: Jiyang Cheng “I feel a great affinity with roles that tell the story of an outsider; the odd duck, so to speak. That is why, as a performer, I feel drawn to the complexity of Peter Grimes as a character. He is a troubled man with a lot of baggage, an impassioned loner who still wants to belong, but fails despite his fragile attempts.” “I’m convinced this is going to be a really special production. It was clear from my first meeting with Barbora Horáková that I’ll be working with a director who is just as passionate about the profundity of the drama and about the music of Peter Grimes as I am. I am looking forward to working on this role with her and letting audiences feel the unapologetic humanity and vulnerability of this character.” Issachah Savage With his warm, youthfully dramatic voice, the tenor Issachah Savage is one of the rising stars in the opera scene. He has sung at the Metropolitan Opera and the Salzburger Festspiele. His repertoire includes Verdi roles such as Radamès in Aida and the title role in Otello, as well as the Wagnerian roles of Siegmund in Die Walküre and the eponymous role in Tannhäuser. Now he is adding the multi-faceted title role in Britten’s Peter Grimes to that list. we get to know in the opera is a dreamer, a poetic and misunderstood soul, but also someone with a very short fuse who is socially inept.” “To do justice to this ambivalent character in all his complexity requires a close partnership between me and ‘my’ Grimes, the tenor Issachah Savage. Grimes is not the kind of role where all you have to do is provide a costume and some stage directions. It is a role that needs to be shaped through a profound connection with the character. I’ve already had my first talk with Issachah about the role and it is incredibly inspiring to discuss the character and what drives him.” Issachah Savage: “Peter Grimes was created almost eighty years ago but this opera is still extremely topical and relevant today. The parallels between the opera and today’s world are uncanny. People who fail to fit in with certain social norms are still being cast out and mistreated daily. And I also see a striking parallel in the way facts and evidence are treated as irrelevant. Peter Grimes is eventually tried and found guilty in the court of cruel, volatile public opinion. In that sense, this opera could just as easily have been written last week.” Text: Laura Roling ny” 23
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