REVIEWS: John Claggart (Billy Budd) Aldeburgh Festival

“The joker in the pack – no, joker is definitely the wrong word – was the addition of Brindley Sherratt’s matchless Claggart to the company. The great British bass, still currently on Baron Ochs duty for WNO, revisited the role with which he scorched Glyndebourne’s earth in its revival production and delivered a performance of staggering presence and baleful intent. Herman Melville’s master-at-arms is a creation of pure evil, more a brother than a cousin to Otello’s Iago, and Sherratt’s interpretation of it was a masterclass in malignity and power.”

Mark Valencia, Bach Track, 25 June 2017