From The Red House: Curlew River and Sumidagawa

The extracts from Britten’s letters and other writings are read by Dr Nicholas Clark, Librarian at Britten Pears Arts. The extracts from Curlew River are from the 1966 Decca recording directed by Britten and Viola Tunnard (with grateful thanks to Decca and Faber Music). The extracts from the English language performance of Sumida River were kindly provided by Dr Kevin Salfen from the University of the Incarnate Word, Texas. It was written by Richard Emmert, based on the play Sumidigawa by Kanze Motomasa. Shite (Madwoman) – Ōshima Kinue; Waki (Boatman) – Richard Emmert; Tsure (Traveller) – Matthew Dubroff; Kokata (Spirit of the Boy) – Miriam Dubroff; Otsuzumi – Ōkura Eitarō; Kotsuzumi – James Ferner; Nohkan – Kevin Salfen; Chorus Leader – Joyce Lim; Chorus – Members of Theatre Nohgaku and students at the University of the Incarnate Word.