On (I believe) Steve Schwartz's recommendation I purchased Vaughan
William's Pilgrims Progress.  I'm intrigued that he left it off his list
of good English Librettos and wondered if he might wish to comment on this.
Frankly, I'm not surprised.  For a piece that VW apparently worked on
throughout his life, both libretto and music seemed to me rather flaccid.
Wonderful in spots, but not great opera.

I was also struck by the relative scarcity of one of the things that I most
appreciate in opera: ensemble singing.  Despite the beauty of much of the
music it seemed lacking in drama or interaction among the characters beyond
their characterizations.  Is this also in part due to shortcomings in the
libretto? I realize this may be asking for too much given the work's
provenance in Bunyan's morality tale.  After all, it's not intended to
reflect "real" human interactions.

But, in the context of this post, I was just wondering if these are some
of the reasons Steve left it off his list.  And, similarly, to propose an
additional one that does seem to explore the depths of human psychology in
a fascinating (if ambiguous way) what about Britten's Peter Grimes?

Ed