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Lennox Berkeley followed Britten’s lead into the theatre when in 1949 he started work on Nelson, a grand opera in three acts to a libretto by Alan Pryce-Jones. The opera follows the life of Nelson from the time of his first meeting with Emma Hamilton until his death, exploring the struggle between private passion and public duty. Berkeley approached the opera in an unusual manner. Rear-Admiral Charles Lambe (later to become Sir Charles Lambe, Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord) invited Berkeley to accompany him in his flagship, HMS Vengeance, on his journey to the Mediterranean which would take them through the waters where the Battle of Trafalgar was fought in 1805. So it was that the composer set sail from Portland on 28 January 1950 with the twenty-two ships of the Home Fleet’s spring cruise. Lambe had two grand pianos installed in his day cabin so that he and Berkeley could play Mozart and Schubert duets during the passage, and between Capes St Vincent and Trafalgar he slowed the ship so that the composer could absorb the atmosphere of those waters.
The English Opera Group gave a concert performance of Nelson with piano at the Wigmore Hall on 14 February 1953 with Nancy Evans as Lady Nelson and Peter Pears as Lord Nelson. This was the first time an opera by Berkeley had been heard and it made a favourable impression. A review published in The Times on 16 February reported that ‘Berkeley writes now with a freedom, a lyrical impulse, an actual relish, that are necessary ingredients of operatic composition’. The concert performance was given in the hope of persuading Sadler’s Wells to stage the opera and Britten, furious that the theatre had not yet committed to perform it, lent his support.
Alan Pryce-Jones (1908–2000)
Synopsis for part of Nelson (c.1953)
The final scene sees the action return to the garden at Merton, where Hardy tells Emma the details of Nelson’s death. The opera ends with Emma recalling their love. |
