Page 585 - Media Coverage Book - 75th Aldeburgh Festival 2024

24 June 2024
Sumidagawa/Curlew River review –

Britten’s work reunited with its medieval

Japanese inspiration

Snape Maltings/Blythburgh church, Suffolk
New staging of Britten’s work, first seen at the Aldeburgh festival 60 years ago,
complemented by authentic Noh play
Rian Evans
Mon 24 Jun 2024 08.43 BST

Benjamin Britten’s Curlew River was first seen in the 1964 Aldeburgh festival and, to
mark the passage of 60 years, the current festival presented a new staging by Deborah
Warner, complemented with an authentic performance of the Japanese Noh play,
Sumidagawa, the original inspiration for what Britten called a church parable.
Connecting the two made for a tour de force.