Steuart Bedford (1939 – 2021)

Conductor

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“In Mr. Bedford’s hands it had the makings of a bomb about to detonate, the tension genuinely explosive.”
Michael White, New York Times, June 2015

Recognised as one of today’s leading Britten experts as a result of his long collaboration with the composer, Steuart Bedford has conducted Britten’s operas in the most important houses including the world premiere of Death in Venice at Aldeburgh in 1973.

Steuart Bedford conducted an innovative production of Peter Grimes at the Aldeburgh Festival that has since been released in cinemas, on DVD and on CD to critical acclaim. In recent seasons, he conducted highly praised productions of Death in Venice at Garsington Opera, Don Giovanni at Vancouver Opera, Albert Herring with BBC Symphony Orchestra at London’s Barbican Centre, The Turn of the Screw in the first ever Britten opera presented by Opera Holland Park, Albert Herring at the Grange Park Festival with Aurora Orchestra and returned to the Royal Academy of Music in a production of The Rape of Lucretia.

Steuart Bedford 11_Steuart_Bedford_PMM_2424 — Steuart Bedford

Steuart Bedford - Britten: Act III Interlude V (Moonlight - excerpt) (Peter Grimes) © Signum Classics

Steuart Bedford - Britten: Albert Herring (excerpt) © Naxos

“gradually the heat turned up, with the blaze of coloring for which the orchestration of this piece is celebrated… in Mr. Bedford’s hands it had the makings of a bomb about to detonate, the tension genuinely explosive.”

Michael White, New York Times, June 2015)

“there could be no doubt here about the authority of the conducting: Steuart Bedford, now aged 75, led the first performance of this piece 43 years ago. Today his interpretation is perfectly measured, catching all the score’s febrile anxiety as well as its brief arcs of glowing lyricism and its brilliantly characterised vignettes of the Venetian scene.”

(Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph, June 2015)

“…what a performance. With Steuart Bedford, who conducted the work’s premiere in 1973, in the pit, the richness of the score is brought out in all its glory – most notably the gamelan-influenced accompaniments to the beach games”

(Michael Church, The Independent, June 2015)

“Bedford, who conducted the world premiere in 1973, keeps the atmospheres trim, getting the best from the house orchestra and excellent scratch chorus. He also allows the main singers… freedom to inhabit their characters fully.”

(Guy Dammann, The Guardian, June 2015)