Benjamin Britten's 1946 chamber opera "The Rape of Lucretia" recounts the fate of the Roman aristocrat Lucrezia, who gained fame for her loyalty and high moral standards around 500 BC, at the time of the Greco-Roman War. She was raped by the Etruscan tyrant Tarquinius Superbus and subsequently took her own life, which in turn provoked a popular uprising, thus ending the dictatorship. The themes dealt with, such as desire, violence, guilt and the strong symbolic power of female sexuality and fidelity, are highly explosive and topical.

Our perspective on them has changed enormously compared to antiquity, but also to post-war England, and the production wants to facilitate a discursive discussion of these topics. The contents are transported by Britten's fantastic music, in which not only the singers but also each member of the chamber orchestra perform demanding solo parts.

This production marks the debut of the new musical director of the Opera School, Prof. Andreas Hotz, in Würzburg. As always, the direction is in the hands of Prof. Katharina Thoma.

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Dates: 01, 02, 04, 05.07.2022

Reservation: Falkenhaus