Billy Budd (1924) by Herman Melville
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Great classical music inspired by books
28. Billy Budd (1924) by Herman Melville
Herman Melville's tale of a naive seaman was acclaimed by British critics as a masterpiece when published in London. For his operatic version, Benjamin Britten invited another great novelist E.M. Forster to consider writing the libretto. Forster agreed and worked with Eric Crozier, a regular Britten collaborator, to provide the words for one of English opera's masterpieces. Pictured is Nathan Gunn playing Billy in the 2012 Metropolitan Opera production.
