Opera Australia presents

Billy Budd
Benjamin Britten

Teddy Tahu Rhodes wowed audiences and won awards for performances from Don Giovanni to Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire. Now he makes his role debut as Billy Budd.

This internationally-acclaimed production, conducted by Richard Hickox and directed by Neil Armfield, returns to Sydney with John Wegner as Claggart and one of the world’s great Britten interpreters, Philip Langridge, as Captain ‘Starry’ Vere.

Billy is foretopman on the HMS Indomitable. His simple goodness incenses Claggart, the vindictive Master at Arms. It is up to Captain Vere to adjudicate between right and wrong, good and evil. If only it were that straightforward.

Using a huge orchestra and an all-male chorus, Benjamin Britten creates a score which is so simple, so evocative and yet, when the time comes, so overwhelming. Don’t miss this exceptional production.