It's a wonderful performance with every little role in the perfect hands - but Jon Vickers ruins it. He acts like a Tristan who got accidentally thrown to another universe and tops it with some Boris in the mad scene. Way to theatrical, grad opera-is, cliché. Overdone gestures and all the "OMG I'm SO DRAMATIC!!!!111!!one!" When will all these big bearlike scenery-chewers understand that Grimes is not a Heldentenor role? That it needs someone with a true English voice and great psychological acting style? Even Brian Blessed would say Vickers to stop the overacting.
And I actually like Vickers otherwise. He's great in Wagner roles, but this one is just no. Too violent, no subtlety. It's hard to feel sorry for him.
Go watch the ENO DVD - Langridge moved me to tears.
