The Turn of the Screw is a disturbing work, a novelty in the opera world for being something of a horror story with genuine chills. A setting of Henry James’s novella with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, this is regarded by many as the finest of Britten’s stage works. As a member of the guild, she has performed in their productions for the past four years. Garsington Opera, Wormsley; Theatre Royal Stratford East, London Even in broad daylight, Garsington’s The Turn of the Screw is a brilliantly chilling affair. The theme of The Turn of the Screw – of innocence abused and corrupted – had a particular fascination for Britten, and he clothes this dark material in music of disturbing beauty that winds up the tension to breaking point. Find out about The Turn of the Screw at the Royal Opera House. A sheltered young governess is sent to care for two children in a country house called Bly. The theme of The Turn of the Screw – of innocence abused and corrupted – had a particular fascination for Britten, and he clothes this dark material in music of disturbing beauty that winds up the tension to breaking point. Opera North continues its superbly varied season with this revival of Alessandro Talevi’s much-praised production. The Turn of the Screw returns to Opera North’s repertoire after the production was premiered in 2010. The Turn of the Screw is a 20th-century English chamber opera composed by Benjamin Britten with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, "wife of the artist John Piper, who had been a friend of the composer since 1935 and had provided designs for several of the operas". Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw premiered on September 15, 1954, at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy. Opera North's revival of Benjamin Britten's opera based on Henry James' novella exudes an unsettling and memorable air of menace. Screw was Britten's final chamber opera. Don’t go expecting the now fashionable onstage lake or much sense of an actual schoolroom, given that the set is dominated by a four poster bed in every scene, but do count on plenty of scary surprises, finely pointed up by Matthew Haskins’ wonderfully atmospheric lighting. Alone and anxious, the Governess begins […] Synopsis. The Turn of the Screw is an opera by Benjamin Britten.It is a chamber opera (an opera for a small number of characters and very small orchestra). Myfanwy Piper had years earlier suggested James's The Turn of the Screw as a potential subject for a television opera and encouraged by Peter Pears, Britten asked her to put together an outline for how it might be adapted into an opera.