Feature

Britten’s Saint Nicolas made Brett Weymark a believer

by Brett Weymark on 10 July, 2017

For the conductor, singing the title role in Benjamin Britten’s cantata at the age of 19 was a life-changing experience.

My first introduction to the music of Benjamin Britten was in year eight at Crows Nest Boys High School in Sydney. My music teacher thought it a good idea for me to learn some of his folksong arrangements such as Oliver Cromwell and Sally Gardens. I didn’t exactly love them at first sight – they seemed academic, a little too clever for school – but I persisted with them because they had an originality that intrigued me.

Fast forward a few years, I was taken by a friend to the (then) Australian Opera’s production of The Turn of the Screw. It was a dark and brooding work brilliantly realised by Neil Armfield. While I wasn’t old enough to fully understand some of the more “adult” subplots surrounding the curious relationship of Peter Quint to the two children, I remember being quite spooked and finding it ten times more gripping than The Magic Flute or Carmen.

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