Benjamin Britten's opera The Rape of Lucretia was first performed at Glyndebourne in July 1946, just 13 months after the triumphant premiere of his Peter Grimes, which had been hailed as signalling a renaissance in English opera.
Yet the two works could hardly be more different. Where Grimes was a grand opera, with chorus and full orchestra, firmly rooted in the 19th-century tradition, its successor is at the other end of the scale, requiring just eight singers and 13 musicians, and part of what can be now be seen as an essentially 20th-century fascination with the economy and directness of stripped-down music theatre.
The premiere was given by the newly formed Glyndebourne English Opera Company - with Kathleen Ferrier as Lucretia, and Peter Pears and Joan Cross as the Male and Female Choruses. It was the director and writer Eric Crozier who suggested that André Obey's play Le Viol de Lucrèce could be the basis of an opera, and the composer asked his friend Ronald Duncan to provide the libretto. What Duncan came up with has been the source of debate ever since; its high-flown imagery and explicit Christian message have repelled some, as much as they have been approved by others.
In the story of the faithful and virtuous Lucretia's rape by the politically ambitious Etruscan Tarquinius, Britten had identified his persistent themes - the corruption of innocence, and the outsider in society, so dominant in Peter Grimes. The faithfulness of Lucretia to her husband Collatinus is very much the exception rather than the rule in the libidinous Rome of the opera. In Britten's dramatic scheme the Male and Female Choruses are more than just story-tellers. They describe and comment on the action, but gradually find their detachment subverted by the horror of what is happening, and provide the bridge between these events, which take place in classical, pre-Christian times, and the present- day audience, as both conscience and commentators.
The score is a model of the economy, creating a sound world of vivid evocation, while the interweaving of self-contained numbers with music that is more freely organised, shows how Britten had rethought his approach to opera and to the operatic tradition after Grimes.
Casts & Credits
- Home
- |
- Tours
- |
- Day tours
- |
- Rail tours
- |
- Shore excursions
- |
- My trip
- |
- About
Group Tour Packages
Company Information
US office
3422 Old Capitol Trail Suite 1252,
Wilmington DE, 19808 USA.
US toll-free: 1-888-845-8877
Russian office
Ligovsky pr. 57, Office 19,
191040, St. Petersburg, Russia
tel: +7-812-309-5339
© 2001 – 2024 by Northern Crown, Ltd. uVisitRussia and uVisitRussia.com are registered trademarks. Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy
Why Do You Need Our Travel Expert
Contact our experts, and they will help you to plan your best trip to Russia, with attention to every detail!
Our Experts have been in the travel industry for many years, guarantee to offer first class customer service, excellent value for money and unbiased advice. They are standing by to find and build your dream holiday to one of the world's most fascinating destinations - Russia.
Your personal Travel Expert will guide you through each stage of the travel process, from choosing a program that fits you best to support during your trip.
Just tell us your e-mail, and we'll take care of everything!
Ask a Travel Expert
Leave your phone number
Your tour request has been received. Thank you !
We have sent you the confirmation message to [email]
Please make sure that you receive this message (sometimes e-mail messages may go to the spam/junk mail).
If you did not get this message, it means you will not get message with the tours' selection as well. If you use a Yahoo!, Gmail, AOL or Hotmail, we recommend to add request@uvisitrussia.com to your address book.
We recommend to leave your phone number. If we will not heard back that you received the e-mail with the tours' selection, we will contact you by phone.
And you will not miss the best tour for you.
Thank you ! Your request for Travel Expert assistance has been sent. We will e-mail you within 1 hour.