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Offer,Britten: The Rape of Lucretia

Jean Rigby (Lucretia), Nigel Robson (Male Chorus), Catherine Pierard (Female Chorus), Donald Maxwell (Tarquinius), Alastair Miles (Collatinus), Alan Opie (Junius), Patricia Rozario (Lucia), Ameral Gunson (Bianca)

City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox

Hickox allows his singers plenty of space with no loss of tension; they respond impressively, with Catherine Pierard exceptional as the Female Chorus. — BBC Music Magazine, October 2014, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 28th Jul 2014
Catalogue No: CHAN241-51
Label: Chandos
Series: 241, The Hickox Legacy
Length: 1 hour 56 minutes

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Britten: The Rape of Lucretia

Work length1:56:15

$25.80

$31.85

Catherine Piérard (soprano), Nigel Robson (tenor), Alan Opie (baritone), Patricia Rozario (soprano), Alastair Miles (bass), Ameral Gunson (mezzo-soprano), Donald Maxwell (baritone), Jean Rigby (contralto)
City of London Sinfonia
Richard Hickox
Recorded: 5-8 July 1993
Recording Venue: Goldsmiths College, London, United Kingdom

Act I: Rome is now ruled by the Etruscan upstart (Male Chorus)

Track length5:48

$1.05

$1.30

Act I Scene 1: Here the thirsty ev'ening has drunk the wine of light (Male Chorus)

Track length3:05

$1.05

$1.30

Act I Scene 1: Who reaches heaven first is the best philosopher (Collatinus)

Track length7:46

$1.60

$1.95

Act I Scene 1: Oh, my God, with what agility does jealousy jump into a small heart (Male Chorus)

Track length8:52

$1.60

$1.95

Act I Scene 1: Tarquinus doses not dare when Tarquinius does not desire (Male Chorus)

Track length2:57

$1.05

$1.30

Act I: Interlude: Tarquiius does not wait for his servant to wake (Male Chorus)

Track length3:13

$1.05

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Act I Scene 2: Their spinning wheel unwinds dreams which desire has spun (Female Chorus)

Track length5:38

$1.05

$1.30

Act I Scene 2: Listen! I heard a knock. Somebody is at the gate (Lucretia)

Track length3:03

$1.05

$1.30

Act I Scene 2: Time turns upon the hands of women (Female Chorus)

Track length5:36

$1.05

$1.30

Act I Scene 2: None of the women move. It is too late for a messenger (Female Chorus)

Track length6:11

$1.05

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Act II Scene 1: The prosperity of the Etruscans was due to the richness of their native soil (Female Chorus)

Track length7:40

$1.60

$1.95

Act II Scene 1: She sleeps as a rose upon the night (Female Chorus)

Track length3:01

$1.05

$1.30

Act II Scene 1: When Tarquinius desires, then Tarquinius will dare (Male Chorus)

Track length2:33

$1.05

$1.30

Act II Scene 1: Within this frail crucible of light (Tarquinius)

Track length4:47

$1.05

$1.30

Act II Scene 1: Lucretia! (Tarquinius)

Track length6:29

$1.05

$1.30

Act II: Interlude: Here in this scene you see Virtue assailed by sin (Female Chorus, Male Chorus)

Track length4:14

$1.05

$1.30

Act II Scene 2: O what a lovely day (Lucia)

Track length6:38

$1.05

$1.30

Act II Scene 2: Hush! Here she comes! (Bianca)

Track length3:36

$1.05

$1.30

Act II Scene 2: Flowers bring to ev'ry year the same perfection (Luceretia)

Track length6:24

$1.05

$1.30

Act II Scene 2: Lucretia! Lucretia! O never again must we two dare to part (Collatinus)

Track length5:07

$1.05

$1.30

Act II Scene 2: Last night Tarquinius ravished me and tore the fabric of our love (Lucretia)

Track length3:35

$1.05

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Act II Scene 2: This dead hand lets fall all that my heart held when full (Collatinus)

Track length4:21

$1.05

$1.30

Act II Scene 2: Is it all? Is all this suffering and pain, is this in vain? (Female Chorus)

Track length5:41

$1.05

$1.30

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About

Premiered in 1946, The Rape of Lucretia was Britten’s second opera, coming after the unheralded stellar success of Peter Grimes. Perhaps in reaction to this, The Rape of Lucretia marks a radical change in approach and Britten’s decisive break with the grand opera tradition. A short work in only two acts with a small cast and ensemble, it was the first ever chamber opera, a genre to which Britten and many others would return.

Despite its modest size, the opera packs a powerful emotional punch in dealing with its dark subject matter. It tells the story of the Roman noblewoman Lucretia who is raped by the tyrant Tarquinius Superbus, ruler of Rome, and elects to kill herself rather than live with the shame. The compact libretto, developed by Ronald Duncan, is an adaptation of a play by André Obey, itself based on Shakespeare’s poem on the same subject.

The recording, made in 1993, is reissued as a part of the Richard Hickox Legacy Series, the renowned Britten conductor leading the City of London Sinfonia. Hickox was praised for his ‘clear-sighted direction’ and there were also high marks for the ‘vivid, beautifully disciplined response from the City of London Sinfonia’ (Hi-Fi News). The recording includes Jean Rigby’s ‘beautifully sung and movingly felt performance’ (The Sunday Times) as Lucretia, and the supporting cast is excellent.

Reviews

October 2014

Hickox allows his singers plenty of space with no loss of tension; they respond impressively, with Catherine Pierard exceptional as the Female Chorus.

10th October 2014

The cast is dominated by Jean Rigby's admirably portrayed Lucretia, warm but positive in a role that can seem monochrome in character. She lacks the warmth of voice of Janet Baker or Kathleen Ferrier but has a poise and dignity in the role that make up for it.

Offer,Britten: The Rape of Lucretia

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