BRITTEN, B.: Rape of Lucretia (The) (ENO, 1987)
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- (Disc 1)
The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37
Composer:
Britten, Benjamin
Libretto/Text Author:
Duncan, Ronald
Libretto Source:
Obey, Andre
Conductor:
Friend, Lionel
Orchestra:
English National Opera Orchestra
Bianca:
Owens, Anne-Marie
Collatinus:
Allan, Richard van
Female Chorus:
Harries, Kathryn
Junius:
Opie, Alan
Lucia:
Pope, Cathryn
Lucretia:
Rigby, Jean
Male Chorus:
Johnson, Anthony Rolfe
Tarquinius:
Smythe, Russell
Set/Stage Designer:
Craig, Russell
Costume Designer:
Craig, Russell
Stage Director:
Vick, Graham
Television Director:
Simpson, Michael
Date of Production: 1987
Playing Time: 01:49:00
Catalogue Number: 102021
UPC: 807280202199
Synopsis
This specially-staged studio recording of the English National Opera's highly-acclaimed production of Benjamin Britten's work features outstanding performances by Jean Rigby as Lucretia and Richard Van Allan as Collatinus. Anthony Rolfe Johnson and Kathryn Harries sing the Male and Female Chorus who poignantly comment on the brutal rape of Lucretia by Tarquinius, Prince of Rome. With its bare scrubbed boards, its sliding screens – against which the characters sometimes appear in silhouette – and its high-railed gantry from which the Chorus observe, both Graham Vick's staging and Russell Craig's severe designs have a cool, elegant simplicity. With no extraneous movement or gesture to distract the eye, everything is focused with a luminous intensity on the ritualistically compact unfolding of the drama and the inescapable fate of her characters. This ascetic production tellingly matches the austere restraint of Britten's first chamber opera, scored with sparse texture for a mere twelve instruments, a limitation over which Britten triumphed to produce music of deeply moving intensity.
This innovative production is a fine example of the exciting and imaginative work that is characteristic of the English National Opera.
This innovative production is a fine example of the exciting and imaginative work that is characteristic of the English National Opera.
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