Eve of the trilogy "Der Ring des Nibelungen" by Richard Wagner, in the production by Joachim Schlömer (Stuttgart State Opera 1999, recorded live at the end of 2002).

Captain Vere, an old man, is haunted by a moment in his life when he was tested and found wanting. Based on Herman Melville's novella of naval life in the late 18th Century, Benjamin Britten's 'Billy Budd' is a gripping reflection on good and evil, innocence and corruption.