The Rape of Lucretia

This is where chamber opera begins: with an unforgivable crime and a hollow prayer.

For composer Benjamin Britten, the Roman tale of Lucretia’s tragic violation at the hands of the tyrant Tarquinius became the vessel for an operatic revolution. In place of grandeur and bombast, his work was taut and intimate, with only eight singers and a chamber ensemble to score their every thought and action.

Britten’s Lucretia seethes with psychological insight and desperate yearning for divinity. It is a ritual circle carved out for the noblest acts of humanity. And the most depraved.

SCO brings this pioneering work to a Sydney stage for the first time this century. Helpmann Award-winning Artistic Director of Sydney Theatre Company Kip Williams returns to SCO after his ravishing production of An Index of Metals to direct rising star Anna Dowsley (Le Nozze di Figaro for Opera Australia; SCO’s Ich habe genug) in the career-defining title role.