Opera in two acts
Music Text Libretto by Ronald Duncan, after the play by André Obey (E,Cz,Fl,G,I,S,Sc)
Scoring2S,M,A,T,2Bar,B
1(=picc,afl).1(=corA).1(=bcl).1-1.0.0.0-perc(1):timp/susp.cym/gong/
BD/TD/SD/tgl/whip/tamb-harp-pft(=conductor)-strings (1.1.1.1.1)
For full details on this stagework, including synopsis and roles, please visit our
Opera section.
World Premiere7/12/1946
Glyndebourne
Eric Crozier, director / Glyndebourne Festival Opera / Ernest Ansermet
Repertoire Note It was a combination of economic realities and aesthetic preferences that encouraged Britten to develop the concept of chamber opera, employing a small cast without chorus and an orchestra of just thirteen players. His first work in the new medium was
The Rape of Lucretia, first performed just over a year after
Peter Grimes, in 1946. There is, however, no loss of colour and atmosphere – indeed the pared-down textures produced an intensification of Britten’s operatic vision which was to serve him further in
Albert Herring and The
Turn of the Screw.
With the roles of the Male and Female Chorus, who comment on the action ‘out of time’ (as in Greek tragedy) and the use of solo piano accompaniment to accompany recitative passages, Lucretia achieves a certain ‘classical’ poise and detachment. However, Lucretia and Tarquinius are flesh-and-blood characters driven by real human emotions and desires (Lucretia’s music is surely some of Britten’s most sheerly beautiful) and the resulting amalgam is an opera of great musico-dramatic power and expressive richness.
Reproduced by kind permission of the
Britten-Pears LibraryMore on this Composer
