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Classic Staging of Brittan’s ‘Billy Budd’ Is At the Met, Briefly

This particular staging is the John Dexter version, which was first at the Met in 1978 and has not been seen since, and is presumably unchanged since then, owing to the fact that Dexter died in 1990. (Or maybe that means it’s more likely to have been changed? Dunno. Anyway.) And Billy Budd is not an opera that’s seen that often, certainly not in this production, so this quick weeklong run at the Met does not deserve to be overshadowed by the overwhelming clamor accompanying the opera house’s new Ring cycle, which has been the source of lo much controversy and hubbub. And here’s Brittan’s understated Billy Budd, only up for a week, in a 34-year old production, just humming along, knocking the walls down. Runs through Saturday. (FULL ARTICLE: Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times)