Eric Crozier (14 November 1914 - 7 September 1994) was a British theatrical director and opera librettist, long associated with Benjamin Britten.Crozier was born in London, and after an apprenticeship at the Old Vic theatre, he joined the Sadlers Wells Opera Company in London during the Second World War, and directed Britten's first opera, Peter Grimes, at Sadler's Wells in 1945. He founded the English Opera Group in 1947, and co-founded (with Britten) the Aldeburgh Festival in 1948. He directed his second wife, Nancy Evans, in the role of Lucretia in the 1946 premiere of Britten's opera The Rape of Lucretia at Glyndebourne, and later succeeded Peter Pears as director of the Aldeburgh Festival.Eric Crozier's first opera libretto for Britten was Albert Herring (1947), and he later wrote and/or directed several other Britten operas. Crozier's and Nancy Evans' archives are preserved at Aldeburgh[1]. He died at Granville, France.
He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1991 Queen's Honours List for his services to music.
2
His operas include The Bartered Bride (1943), Peter Grimes (1945), Let's Make an Opera (1948), Billy Budd (1951, with E.M. Forster), and Ruth (1956). His opera translations include The Bartered Bride, Otello, Falstaff and La traviata (all with Joan Cross), Idomeneo, Salome and Die Frau ohne Schatten.
3
Co-founded the English Opera Group in 1947 and the Aldeburgh Festival in 1948 with Benjamin Britten and John Piper.
4
His friendship with actor Stephen Haggard led to his appointment as one of the first drama producers for BBC Television.
5
English librettist and director who also wrote books for children and was an accomplished broadcaster.
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Johnson Was No Gentleman
1939
TV Movie producer
The Deacon and the Jewess
1939
TV Movie producer
Rake's Progress
1939
TV Movie producer
Someone at the Door
1939
TV Movie producer
The Gamblers
1939
TV Movie producer
Bees on the Boat-Deck
1939
TV Movie producer
A Break in the Journey
1938
TV Short producer
Queens of France
1938
TV Short producer
The Viceroy of Peru
1938
TV Movie producer
Telecrime
1938
TV Series producer - 1 episode
Picture Page
1937-1938
TV Series producer - 6 episodes
Youth at the Helm
1938
TV Movie producer
The Bear
1938
TV Short producer
Winter Sunshine
1938
TV Movie producer
Is Life Worth Living?
1938
TV Movie producer
Badger's Green
1938
TV Movie producer
Ah, Wilderness!
1938
TV Movie producer
Wren of St. Paul's
1938
TV Movie documentary producer
The Words Upon the Window Pane
1938
TV Movie producer
On the High Road
1938
TV Movie producer
Doctor Knock
1938
TV Movie producer
Once in a Lifetime
1937
TV Movie producer
The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden
1937
TV Movie producer
Turn Round
1937
TV Movie producer
James Simpson
1937
TV Short producer
Capital Punishment
1937
TV Short producer
Viennese Honeymoon
1937
TV Movie producer
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Billy Budd
1998
TV Movie libretto
Let's Make an Opera
1996
libretto
Billy Budd
1988
TV Movie libretto
Albert Herring
1985
TV Movie text by
Billy Budd
1966
TV Movie libretto
The Little Sweep
1964
TV Movie libretto
Signpost
1961
TV Series documentary writer - 5 episodes
Lazarus
1960
TV Movie freely adapted by
BBC Sunday-Night Play
1960
TV Mini-Series adapted by - 1 episode
A Christmas Journey
1959
TV Movie
World Theatre
1959
TV Mini-Series adaptation - 1 episode
BBC Sunday-Night Theatre
TV Series adapted for television by - 2 episodes, 1957 - 1958 adaptation - 2 episodes, 1952 - 1957
Encounter
1957
TV Series libretto - 1 episode
Salome
1957
TV Movie revised by
Under Milk Wood
1957
TV Movie adapted for television by
Christmas in the Market-Place
1956
TV Movie adapted for television by / translated by
$250,000
