50, is an opera by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by the novelist E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier, based on the short novel Billy Budd by Herman Melville.

They agreed on Billy Budd as a work to be adapted into an opera, with a formal meeting in January 1949 to discuss the project.

Britten originally intended the title role for Geraint Evans, who prepared it but withdrew because it lay too high for his voice.

[10] When Britten conducted the opera's premiere, in its original form of four acts, the performance received 15 curtain calls.

Critical reaction to the premiere, according to a December 1951 New York Times article, was "a very good press and a very fair one, enthusiastic if not really ecstatic".

[11] Billy Budd received its United States première in 1952 in performances by Indiana University Opera Company.

Vere's first appearance after the prologue had been originally the Captain's Muster, in which he addresses the crew at the end of Act 1; Britten cut this, explaining to his librettist Eric Crozier that he had never been happy with that scene,[14] so making Vere's first appearance on the ship a private moment alone in his cabin.

The first performance of the revised two-act version was on 9 January 1964 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Georg Solti.

[17] The opera was produced in November 1970 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, with Uppman reprising the title role, Richard Lewis as Vere, Geraint Evans as Claggart, Bruce Yarnell as Redburn, Raymond Michalski as Flint, and Arnold Voketaitis as Ratcliffe.

[21] A new performing edition of the work, with a revised orchestration by Steuart Bedford, premiered at Des Moines Metro Opera on 1 July 2017.

[22] Baritones who have sung the role of Billy Budd include Sir Thomas Allen, Sir Simon Keenlyside, Richard Stilwell, Dale Duesing, Nathan Gunn, Rod Gilfry, Bo Skovhus, Thomas Hampson, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Peter Mattei, Jacques Imbrailo and Liam Bonner.

Notable Veres have included Peter Pears, Richard Cassilly, Philip Langridge, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, and John Mark Ainsley.

He reflects on the conflict between good and evil, tormented by guilt over the case of Billy Budd on board his ship, HMS Indomitable, some years earlier.

The officers, forgetting mention of the name of his prior ship, take his words as a deliberate provocation and order the men below decks.

At this point in the four-act version, the climax of Act I features Captain Vere on deck to give a speech to the men.

The officers warn that Billy may cause trouble, but Vere dismisses their fears and expresses his love for the men under his command.

Dansker brings him a drink and reveals that the crew is willing to mutiny for his sake, but Billy argues against that and is resigned to his fate.