‘It is a marvelous libretto…and his brilliance was matched by Britten’s music, which absorbed the idioms of Gershwin, Cole Porter, Western country music and of Kurt Weill.  The resulting score is dazzling in its imaginativeness and invention, touching and prophetic of Peter Grimes…A work that has genius written all over it.’
Opera Magazine (Michael Kennedy)

‘One of those early works of genius – like Mozart ’s Idomeneo – whose youthful freshness and abundance of invention set an audience’s spirit soaring…what matters is the general vision of unspoiled nature and men harnessing (and spoiling) that nature, of first love and first grief, of dreams, ambitions and compromises that life imposes.  And what matters most of all is the world of lyrical, joy - giving music that Britten creates.’
The New Yorker (Andrew Porter)

'Catchy ballads, romantic numbers, parodies, character pieces, blues and big swinging choruses follow one another in rapid succession.  But they do more than delight the ear.  With a few simple strokes Britten again and again reveals an uncanny ability to seize the essence of a character or a situation.'
The Observer (Peter Heyworth)