Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia from Royal Academy Opera directed by Paul Carr & performed by Lada Valesova

Britten: The Rape of Lucretia – Ellie Donald, Ella Orehek-Coddington, Pasel Basov, Viktoria Melkonian – Royal Academy Opera (Picture: Craig Fuller)

Britten: The Rape of Lucretia; Ella Orehek-Coddington, Oliver Heuzenreuder, Yihui Wang, MAdeleine Perring, Pavel Basov, director: Paul Carr, conductor: Lada Valesova, Royal Academy Opera; Susie Sainsbury Theatre, Royal Academy of Music

A stripped down manufacturing that centered on the singers with a efficiency within the title position from Ella Orehek-Coddington that remodeled the drama in a manufacturing the place everybody rose to the problem.

Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia appears to be cropping up somewhat quite a bit in theatres this anniversary yr, which is one thing of a shock on condition that the very first thing any overview says in regards to the work is usually a remark about Ronald Duncan’s libretto. However then 2026 represents not solely the fiftieth anniversary of Britten’s loss of life however the eightieth anniversary of the opera being premiered at Glyndebourne. And as English Touring Opera confirmed final Autumn, in the precise fingers it’s a highly effective piece certainly [see my review], and extra not too long ago it was the flip of HGO [see Mark Berry’s review for Seen and Heard].

Now the Royal Academy Opera introduced two performances on the Royal Academy of Music‘s (RAM) Susie Sainsbury Theatre directed by Paul Carr and performed by Lada Valesova, with costumes by Michelle Bradbury and lighting by Jake Wiltshire. We caught the second efficiency on Friday 15 Might 2026. Ella Orehek-Coddington was Lucretia and Oliver Heuzenroeder was Tarquinius with Yihui Wang as Male Refrain, Madeleine Perring as Feminine Refrain, Pavel Basov as Collatinus, Harrison Robb as Junius, Viktoria Melkonian as Bianca and Ellie Donald as Lucia.

Britten: The Rape of Lucretia – Oliver Heuzenroeder, Harrison Robb (with Pavel Basov within the background) – Royal Academy Opera (Picture: Craig Fuller)

Opera performances at conservatoires at all times have a component of problem to them, encouraging the younger singers to broaden their horizons. For this efficiency one of many problem got here within the type of Ronald Duncan’s somewhat wordy and fewer than felicitous libretto particularly as a number of singers weren’t native English audio system. All involved, nevertheless, needed to work laborious to make these phrases work and, by and huge, this was profitable. Given the dimensions of the theatre, I did wonder if the manufacturing ought to have finished with out surtitles to present the singers that further problem of projecting the phrases and their which means.

Mezzo-soprano Ella Orehek-Coddington was not too long ago sharing the title position in Handel’s Rinaldo on the RAM [see my interview]. As a dramatic mezzo-soprano in ready – hers may be very a lot a voice I’m eager to listen to the place it goes sooner or later – she made attention-grabbing casting for Lucretia. This Lucretia was actually not fragile and Orehek-Coddington introduced a powerful bodily presence to Lucretia’s early scenes. The position, in fact, transforms following the essential rape scene and right here Orehek-Coddington drew on the dramatic potentialities of her voice and projected Britten’s work into different areas similar to Berlioz’s Dido. She lacked the inside the Aristocracy and pathos of somebody like Janet Baker (who I heard within the position within the Seventies) however drew out the character’s inside power. And with the manufacturing’s lack of enterprise, the main focus in these scenes was on Orehek-Coddington.

Britten: The Rape of Lucretia – Yihui Wang, Oliver Heuzenroeder, Ella Orehek-Coddington, Madeleine Perring – Royal Academy Opera (Picture: Craig Fuller)

Oliver Heuzenroeder understudied Tarquinius for HGO, and he impressed after we noticed him as Ned Keene in Britten’s Peter Grimes with British Youth Opera final yr [see my review]. Right here he projected a powerful sense of the character’s sense of I am sexually engaging, and I do know it. This Tarquinius in his semi-transparent high and leather-based denims had a sexual swagger about him and a devil-may-care angle together with entitlement. There have been moments after I wished Heuzenroeder might have given us some extra relaxed tone. When he did so, the outcomes have been beautiful and I wished extra. This was a Tarquinius who captured the mixture of magnetism and disgust that we really feel.

Yihui Wang made an edgy, intense Male Refrain and also you have been acutely aware of the way in which he projected the phrases allied to the character’s lack of distance. While the Male Refrain would possibly say he was a disinterested mirror, this Male Refrain was undoubtedly concerned and the vibrancy of Wang’s efficiency made that clear. His shouldn’t be a basic ‘English’ lyric tenor (why would it not be, he’s Chinese language), however he introduced an attention-grabbing new perspective on the position. He was ably partnered by Madeleine Perring because the Feminine Refrain. While the 2 have been intense and dramatic within the opening scene of Act Two, Perring was a much more poised, classical presence, ably balancing Wang but evincing sympathy for the ladies merely by way of her expressive singing.

Pavel Basov’s sturdy physique and darkish, darkish toned voice make him a shoe in for an operatic villain, so it was fascinating to search out him solid apparently towards kind as Lucretia’s husband, Collatinus. [He was also Eustazio in the RAM’s recent Rinaldo.] In Act One, he was very a lot one of many boys, but in Act Two Basov revealed a poetic, tender aspect which suggests he has an attention-grabbing profession forward. His scene with Orehek-Coddington after Lucretia has revealed what has occurred was touching certainly, particularly with two such vibrant voices.

Britten: The Rape of Lucretia – Yihui Wang (with Viktoria Melkonian in background) – Royal Academy Opera (Picture: Craig Fuller)

Harrison Robb made Junius somebody who loved manipulating individuals for the hell of it, and all through Robb gave Junius a understanding smirk. You wished to slap him and felt very down that the opera didn’t give the character his comeuppance!

Ellie Donald [who was impressive as Armida in the recent Rinaldo] was a powerful Lucia, bringing a properly youthful solid to her voice with out seeming too naive. Viktoria Melkonian introduced positive assist as Bianca, giving the character a solidity with out attempting too laborious to make her outdated. The ladies’s scene on the opening of Act Two was a whole delight, a second of sheer pleasure within the darkness.

Within the pit, Lada Valesova and the 13 gamers of the Royal Academy Sinfonia introduced out the vivid colors of the rating. They didn’t attempt to fake this was music written on a symphonic scale and certainly the theatre didn’t want this. As an alternative, we acquired large chamber music with plenty of particular person but strongly colored voices.

Britten: The Rape of Lucretia – Madeline Perring, Ellie Donald – Royal Academy Opera (Picture: Craig Fuller)

This was a type of performances which appeared to return collectively within the closing scenes as Orehek-Coddington drew Lucretia into a special dramatic world.