The Rape of Lucretia
Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia is Opera Company of Philadelphia’s first solo chamber opera in the Perelman Theatre, since they launched a series in collaboration with the Curtis Institute last year.
It is directed by William Kerley and conducted by David Hayes, musical director of the mighty Philadelphia Singers.
Tenor William Burden opens Lucretia reading about the Etruscan wars, as an evangelical and tells of the fateful outcome of the assault of a virtuous woman. He is the unstoic ’chorus’ (along with soprano Karen Jesse) who adds layers of side-line confusion, actually, in trying to detangle this sordid story.
The opera’s librettist Ronald Duncan’s bizarre messianic messages are, in the end, completely dated and arcane.
A chamber opera about the assault of Lucretia, a Roman officer’s faithful wife, whose name is nonetheless sullied by gossip among the officers who are on a bender from conquering and pillaging.
Tarquinius, Etruscan Prince, decides to test Lucretia’s honor, and literally destroys her in front of us. The themes are so creepy that Duncan is eventually academic about them. As metaphor or literally, the operatic abstractions of Lucretia is a challenge for today’s audience.
Nicholas Vaughan’s ramp set slashes through over the proscenium, fitted to Kerley’s instant tableau of soldier encampments, road to Rome, or the scene of the crime bedchamber.
Burden is expert in illuminating English cadences, if not plot points, in the composer’s musical quest to explore the implications of this dark terrain. Mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford does the impossible in illuminating the emotions of Lucretia, and vocally, she communicates more than any text.
Baritone Nathan Gunn plays Tarquinius is villainously handsome in his WWI field fatigues and spider-vein red cape draped over one shoulder. Eric Dubin gives a compact, riveting performance as the sousey, loose-mouthed Junius and the strong supporting cast includes Ben Wager, Allison Sanders and Rinnat Moriah.
The 14-member orchestra assembled for this chamber piece under the director of conductor David Hayes, details all of Britten’s dark interiors mid-volume, tamping down any melodrama admirably. Sophie Bruno’s harp provides a mysterious cathartic oasis and Geoffrey Deemer oboe quiet command.
Gunn and Mumford maintain supple vocal control during their climatic encounter which is directed with chilling veracity by Kerley.
The Rape of Lucretia plays through June 14 at the Perelman Theatre. For more information, go to www.operaphila.org.
by Britten’s ’Rape of Lucretia’
