Page 147 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

28 May 2022

C O M M E N T
The spirit of 1948 lives on in this brilliant Suffolk

festival

After a sad hiatus, the Aldeburgh Festival returns to celebrate the great Benjamin Britten – and
challenge him, too
SIMON HEFFER

Mark Padmore performing with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Karina Canellakis at
Aldeburgh Festival 2019 CREDIT: Snape Maltings

Next Friday will see the opening of the first Aldeburgh Festival for three years. Founded in 1948,
Aldeburgh is a reminder of the spirit of post-war Britain when a torrent of talent and creativity
broke out after years of sacrifice and preoccupation. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that after its
long pandemic-induced absence, this year’s festival on the Suffolk coast represents something
similar: the celebration of a defeated, vicious enemy and a reminder that whatever the difficulties
of the post-pandemic society, there is much to look forward to.

Spanning three weeks rather than the usual two, this year’s Aldeburgh is embracing greater
diversity, in the true sense of the word. While it remains faithful to the roots of its founders –
Benjamin Britten, his partner, the tenor Peter Pears, and Eric Crozier, one of Britten’s key
librettists – it also shows healthy signs of challenging the tastes of the great composer, which,
along with the unquestionable genius of his music, have dominated Aldeburgh since it began.
Roger Wright, the festival’s chief impresario and a man of refreshingly catholic tastes, has sneaked
in a performance of Serenade to Music by Vaughan Williams – a composer of whom Britten (a
man not generous to his rivals) certainly did not approve.