Britten's Chamber Opera Masterpiece

The Boston Lyric Opera presents Benjamin Britten's powerful mediation on the corruption of innocence as part of their brand new 2018/19 season. A pioneering production of Britten's Chamber Opera style, the stripped-down work may be performed by just eight singers and thirteen musicians but it remains a richly expressive, emotionally intense and dramatically gripping production that will provoke thoughts and stir souls.

Britten employs a male and female chorus to tell the harrowing tale of Lucretia, set in a broken ancient Rome. Ruled by the foreign prince Tarquinius Superbus, the city fights of a Greek invasion whilst sinking further into depravity. Emulating this corruption, Tarquinius leaves the battlefront to test the chastity of Lucretia, the loyal wife of his general Collatinus, leaving devastation in his wake.