The Metropolitan has been trumpeting a good deal about its new opera, Benjamin Britten's "Peter Grimes." I suspect that the fanfare has been, at least in part, an attempt to cover its neglect of modern opera, for "Grimes" seems to be the only work in the current repertoire that is less than 30 years old. This is not wholly the fault of the Met, since it has staged several unsuccessful premieres in recent decades; the empty seats in the Opera House Thursday night showed that the responsibility also lies with the public. But the Met has not gone out of its conservative way to convince its audiences that important things have been written since Puccini.

"Peter Grimes" was commissioned by the Kousscvitzky Foundation in 1945 and received its first performance under Boris Goldovsky's direction at Tanglewood in 1946. It takes a turn back to pre-Wagnerian opera with recitative and arias. The orchestra is subordinated to action on the state, though, judging by Thursday night's performance, Conductor Emil Cooper must think the opposite. The music is full of the sea--powerful and unsympathetic. It is a fine mood setting for the vicious fishing village, and Grimes' proscription by the other inhabitants is well portrayed. There are several numbers which stand out: the quartet the end of the first scene of act two, Grimes' song, "In dreams I've built myself some kindlier home," and Ellen's "Embroidery in childhood." There are also some chorus tunes which show Britten's skill at folk music. The most effective writing is in the alternation of Ellen's singing to the apprentice with excerpts from the church service off-stage.

"Grimes" is not a very good argument for opera in English, and it cannot fall back on the translation excuse. The fault lies with librettist Montagu Slater. He doesn't seem to think in musical terms, so that there is a lot of pretty tedious recitative, much of which is superfluous. The verbosity has apparently proved too much for Britten, for his music, though following thought and mood, does not fit the words very skillfully. This failing was exaggerated Thursday night by poor diction on the part of both soloists and chorus.

Of course, the Met's "Grimes" is done in the grand manner, and this detracts somewhat, particularly in the case of the oversized chorus which exceeds the stage capacity. The direction is much better than the usual variety, however, in spite of some sloppy moments. In the second scene of the first act, a storm theme appears whenever the door of the pub is opened. Unfortunately, the door and the orchestra seldom coincide. With the exception of Grimes' hut, the sets are realistic and firm--two uncommon advantages.

Highest praise must go to the principals. The generally high quality of both singing and acting fully compensates for the absence of big names. Brian Sullivan sings the tenor role of Grimes with understanding realism, and Ellen Orford, the widow schoolmistress, is touchingly played by Polyna Stoska.