The Prodigal Son is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 by Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten

Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...

 with a libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 by William Plomer

William Plomer

William Charles Franklyn Plomer CBE was a South African author, known as a novelist, poet and literary editor. He was educated mostly in the United Kingdom...

. Based on the Biblical

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 story of the Prodigal Son, this was Britten's third "parable for church performance", after Curlew River

Curlew River

Curlew River — A Parable for Church Performance is the first of three Church Parables by Benjamin Britten. The work is based on the Japanese noh play Sumidagawa of Juro Motomasa , which Britten saw during a visit to Japan and the Far East in early 1956...

and The Burning Fiery Furnace

The Burning Fiery Furnace

The Burning Fiery Furnace is one of the three Parables for Church Performances composed by Benjamin Britten, dating from 1966, and is his Opus 77. The other two 'church parables' are Curlew River and The Prodigal Son . William Plomer was the librettist.The work was premiered at Orford Church,...

. Britten dedicated the score to Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....

.

The first performance took place on 10 June 1968 in Orford Church, Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

. The instrumentalists included the hornist Neill Sanders

Neill Sanders

Neill Sanders was a British horn player, principal hornist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Melos Ensemble for 29 years. He was a professor in Kalamazoo, Michigan and founded a chamber ensemble and a festival there.-Biography:Neill Sanders...

 and the percussionist James Blades

James Blades

James "Jimmy" Blades OBE was an English percussionist.He was one of the most distinguished percussionists in Western music, with long and varied career. His book Percussion Instruments and their History is a standard reference work on the subject Blades was born in Peterborough, England in 1901...

. Colin Graham

Colin Graham

Colin Graham, OBE was a British-born stage director of opera, theater, and television.Graham was educated at Northaw School , Stowe School and RADA...

 was the stage director.

As with the other church parables, the instrumental forces are very modest: flute, horn, viola, double bass, harp, organ and percussion, with the use of the alto flute and small trumpet in D marking changes compared to the other works. The percussion also incorporates a gourd rattle.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 10 June 1968 (Conductor: - )
Tempter/Abbot	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Peter Pears Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears CBE was an English tenor who was knighted in 1978. His career was closely associated with the composer Edward Benjamin Britten....
The Father	bass baritone	John Shirley-Quirk John Shirley-Quirk John Shirley-Quirk CBE is an English bass-baritone.He was born in Liverpool, England, and sang in his high school choir. He played the violin and was awarded a scholarship. While studying chemistry and physics at Liverpool University, he studied voice with Austen Carnegie...
The Younger Son	tenor	Robert Tear Robert Tear Robert Tear, CBE was a Welsh tenor and conductor.Tear was born in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales, UK, the son of Thomas and Edith Tear. He attended Barry Boys' Grammar School and during this period sang in the chorus of the first Welsh National Opera's production of 'Cavalleria Rusticana' in April 1946...
The Elder Son	baritone	Bryan Drake
Young Servants and Distant Voices		Gerald Beauchamp, Michael Butler, Jonathan Fox, Richard Hopkins, David Rookwood
Chorus: Servants, Parasites,and Beggars

Synopsis

The story centers on a farm family, which consists of a father and his two sons. Servants also help with working the land. The elder son and the servants leave to work the fields for the day. The younger son hears a voice that tempts him to indulge his "most secret longings". The younger son asks his father for his inheritance, which the father grants. The younger son makes his way to the city. There, he is deprived of his fortune and left penniless. The younger son then returns home and asks his father's forgiveness. His father receives his younger son with rejoicing, but the elder son is initially angry at his father's reaction, after he himself has loyally worked the fields. The father rebukes his elder son, and asks him to be reconciled to his younger brother, who has returned to restore the family.

Recordings

Britten himself and Viola Tunnard directed the first recording of the work, for the Decca label (original listing, Decca SET 438), with the original cast and performers. The full cast of singers is as follows:

• Tempter/Abbot: Peter Pears
  Peter Pears
  Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears CBE was an English tenor who was knighted in 1978. His career was closely associated with the composer Edward Benjamin Britten....
  
  
• The Father: John Shirley-Quirk
  John Shirley-Quirk
  John Shirley-Quirk CBE is an English bass-baritone.He was born in Liverpool, England, and sang in his high school choir. He played the violin and was awarded a scholarship. While studying chemistry and physics at Liverpool University, he studied voice with Austen Carnegie...
  
  
• The Younger Son: Robert Tear
  Robert Tear
  Robert Tear, CBE was a Welsh tenor and conductor.Tear was born in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales, UK, the son of Thomas and Edith Tear. He attended Barry Boys' Grammar School and during this period sang in the chorus of the first Welsh National Opera's production of 'Cavalleria Rusticana' in April 1946...
  
  
• The Elder Son: Bryan Drake
• Chorus of Servants, Parasites and Beggars: Paschal Allen, Carl Duggan, David Hartley, Philip Hooper, Peter Leeming, John McKenzie, Clive Molloy, Paul Wade
• Young Servants and Distant Voices: Gerald Beauchamp, Michael Butler, Jonathan Fox, Richard Hopkins, David Rookwood

Source: Recordings of The Prodigal Son on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk

External links

Britten-Pears Foundation, page on The Prodigal Son