05/05 08/06/23
The students of the International Opera Academy perform Benjamin Britten's chamber opera about sexual violence and abuse of power.
"Now no sea is deep enough to drown my shame," Lucretia voices her despair after her rape by the tyrannical Roman King Sextus Tarquinius. The married Lucretia, known for her faithfulness, refuses to continue living with the trauma of her assault, even if the tyrant is banished and a new regime is installed. Benjamin Britten wrote his stylised chamber opera The Rape of Lucretia during the Second World War, in a period that was marked not only by the horrors of war but also by a dramatic increase in crimes and sexual violence. Director Carlos Wagner takes that historical context as a starting point for a powerful new version of the opera with the young singers of the International Opera Academy. Like the composer, he reads the original ancient story as an allegory about the inability to gain power and to subjugate, and as a case study in the political exploitation of a crime, regardless of the fate of the victim.
A co-production by Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.
Approx. 1 hour 35 minutes, no break
Free introduction (in Dutch) at 19h15
English with Dutch surtitles
This performance deals with the theme of sexual violence. If you have any questions about this afterwards, call 106 and talk about it in complete confidence.
This performance deals with the theme of suicide. If you need to talk to someone after this performance, you can contact the suicide prevention hotline at 1813 or Tele-Onthaal.
The creators
Team
Benjamin Britten
Composition
Ronald Duncan
Libretto
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Filip Rathé
Conductor
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Carlos Wagner
Direction
Cast
Oleksandra Kuzmina
Kwanhee Park
Ecem Topcu
Ernestina Jošt