GayBritten The Beggars Opera

A huge success at its first performance in 1728 John Gays The Beggars Opera satirized the conventions of Italian opera using popular tunes to tell the story of rogues and criminals With his distinctive musical arrangements at its heart Brittens 1948 adaptation was a significant revision amounting to a new twentiethcentury opera The BBC film originally broadcast in 1963 feature a superb cast of English singers