This opera/musical was premiered in the middle of 1941 during Britten’s stay in America. A collaboration with Anglo-American poet W. H. Auden, it was the pair’s statement on and impression of this vast and varied country. Auden could say it in words, as in Paul Bunyan’s farewell speech: “Every day America’s destroyed and created, America is what you do, America is I and you. America is what you choose to make it.” Britten had a harder task to say things in music. Some of his statement is obvious, as the recurring passages for narrator in the “Ballad Interludes,” which are set to guitar in American folk style. Other passages are subtler, sounding a little like Copland or Gershwin, but always more like Britten than anyone else. This performance was recorded live and features an excellent, youngish cast with fresh, vital voices. Susan Gritton is especially attractive as Tiny, Bunyan’s daughter, and Kurt Streit brings a lovely lyric tenor to the role of Inkslinger. The voice of Paul Bunyan, a spoken part, is a problem for me. Kenneth Cranham sounds neither authoritative nor American enough to convince anyone that he is the giant, mythical logger. He is the only weak link in the cast. The chorus and orchestra are marvelous and Richard Hickox conducts with authority and insight. The live recording is pretty darned good, though there is a lack of sparkle and some irritating stage noise here and there. A full libretto is included in a 160-page booklet that contains many photos from the production.
