“It’s not exactly a work you enjoy” were words I overheard during the interval of this hugely impressive production of Britten’s first chamber opera given by Royal Academy of Music students at the Susie Sainsbury Theatre. Certainly, The Rape of Lucretia is an unsettling experience in which Britten is unafraid to confront its all too contemporary and uncomfortable truths. Regardless of the work’s harrowing subject matter, it is a highly effective stage work (if one not fully appreciated at its 1946 Glyndebourne premiere), not least for the music’s raw emotional honesty, its brilliantly conceived set pieces and the skill with which Britten obligingly scores for just 8 singers and 13 instrumentalists, thereby creating a work of considerable intensity, and one ideal for student or touring productions. The one problematical element remaining an obstacle to the work’s unqualified success is Ronald Duncan’s awkward text and its layering of the Christian interpretation of redemption through suffering morality onto a Classical myth of Roman virtue despoiled by Etruscan lust.
That the violation of women is as old as history is implicit in Michelle Bradbury’s costumes: the women attired in robes indicative of ancient Rome and the men clad in leather, bearing a resemblance to Hells Angels. By contrast, and no less identifiable were the black garbed figures of the Male and Female chorus. Director Paul Carr opted for a largely non-interventionist approach and his decision to shape the work on a mostly bare stage allowed its narrative elements to be imagined by audience and cast alike. A handful of stage lights evoked the Roman encampment, while linen sheets captured the simple domesticity of Lucretia’s home. Here, the sewing scene where threads encircled the women neatly foreshadowed Lucretia’s entrapment and rape. Later, a single upright chair did for the bedroom scene and sheets of coloured paper hinted at baskets of flowers – their transience readily apparent when crumpled and scattered like confetti across the stage. My only quibble was with the presumed death sentence of Tarquinius at the end when a noose tightened round his neck, presumably an act of punishment intended for contemporary sensibilities.
What impressed most was the assurance of these young singers, with 7 out of 8 being first year students. They mastered Britten’s virtuosic vocal writing and sang with total conviction, giving renditions that marked them out potentially as the next generation of professionals. Evident too was the convincing chemistry between each of the characters. Leading the cast as the eponymous ‘heroine’ was Australian-born Ella Orehek-Coddington who inhabited her role as a fully formed flesh and blood character, grappling with her impossible circumstances and inner turmoil with dignity and poise. Nothing overcooked in her closing trauma either, despair here rather than any exaggerated derangement. Her dramatic mezzo might have been an uncomfortable fit for a role that combines contralto and mezzo territories, but what she lacked in her lower register she made up for with a compelling presence. As Lucretia’s nurse and maid, Victoria Melkonian as Bianca and Ellie Donald as Lucia gave fine support and nicely contrasted voices, bringing warmth and youthful charm respectively to their Act 2 duet “O what a lovely day”.
Amongst the men, Oliver Heuzenroeder as Tarquinius was more suave than dangerously seductive, but with more that an inflated sense of himself as the Etruscan tyrant finding menace and darker colouring to his lecherous “When Tarquinius desires”. Elsewhere, Pavel Basov as Collatinus, husband of the virtuous Lucretia, possessed an appropriate smugness, his baritone at its most rewarding when comforting his wife after her violation. Meanwhile, Harrison Robb’s easy-on-the-ear baritone made a rewarding Junius, his provocation of Tarquinius admirably done.
There were also involving performances from Yihui Wang (Male Chorus) and Madeleine Perring (Female Chorus), both roles sung with excellent diction. Tarquinius’s hot-headed ride to Rome was sung with tremendous authority, every note of Wang’s bright tenor ringing true. Perring consistently held the ear, no more so than her Act 2 lullaby – an expressive highlight.
Under Lada Valešová’s baton the Academy’s instrumentalists unveiled all the felicities of Britten’s delicate scoring, though during Act 1 the music felt more propelled than illuminated. She seemed to relax later and drew out some memorable playing, no less so than a sinisterly alto flute and a beguiling cor anglais for the neo-baroque “Lucretia! Lucretia! O never again must we two dare to part…” By the end of the evening, I reconsidered the overheard interval comment – “It’s not exactly a work you enjoy” – and thought it a little unjust. Maybe it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I thoroughly enjoyed this performance of Lucretia.
David Truslove
The Rape of Lucretia
Music: Benjamin Britten
Libretto: Ronald Duncan
Cast and Production staff:
Female Chorus – Madeleine Perring; Male Chorus – Yihui Wang; Collatinus – Pavel Basov; Junius – Harrison Robb; Tarquinius – Oliver Heuzenroeder; Lucretia – Ella Orehek-Coddington; Bianca – Victoria Melkonian; Lucia – Ellie Donald
Director – Paul Carr; Costumes – Michelle Bradbury; Lighting – Jake Wiltshire; Royal Academy of Music Chamber Orchestra; Conductor – Lada Valešová
Susie Sainsbury Theatre, Royal Academy of Music, London, 15 May 2026
Top image: Ellie Donald as Lucia, Ella Orehek-Coddington as Lucretia, Pasel Basov as Collatinus and Viktoria Melkonian as Bianca
All photos © Craig Fuller