Britten's The Rape of Lucretia by Opera Theatre of St. Louis

The "chamber operas" are among Britten's more experimental works. Like many of the younger composers of the World War II era, Britten sought to break with the protocols of conventional opera. He certainly succeeded. The Rape of Lucretia gets so far away from operatic conventions - including those involving compelling characters and a gripping story - that (to quote my date for the evening) one could earn frequent flyer miles trying to get back.

The story of Lucretia is an old one that has inspired numerous dramatic settings and artistic representations over the centuries. The setting is Rome in 500 BC. The Etruscans, under Tarquinius, have conquered the city, and are now in an uneasy alliance with the Romans against the Greeks. The war has been long, and every woman in Rome has been unfaithful to her warrior husband at some point. All, that is, except for Lucretia, the wife of the Roman commander Collatinus. His colleague Junius fumes with jealousy at Collatinus' good luck while Tarquinius fumes with lust for the only woman he apparently can't have. Tarquinius invades her house and rapes her. Collatinus tries to comfort here but Lucretia, convinced that her own beauty is partly responsible for the attack, kills herself. Personally, I think removal of some of Tarquinius' body parts would have been more appropriate, but I suppose that's an anachronistic notion in this context.

This story of defiled innocence and the arrogance of conquest could, depending on the treatment, produce a number of emotions in an audience: pity, rage, sadness, horror - you name it. Unfortunately what it produced in me and my companions was mostly boredom and, finally, irritation and the simple-minded Christian moralizing of the closing scene. The problem rests with Ronald Duncan's libretto, after a play by Andre Obey. Most of the story is told by on-stage narrators - described as Male Chorus and Female Chorus, in reference to ancient Greek tragedy. The device distances the audience from the characters and the action, thereby reducing our involvement with them. Worse yet, those characters never come across as anything more than bloodless archetypes for whom I found it impossible to feel any real emotion.

Britten's musical setting of the play is ingenious. He employs a wide variety of techniques, from lyrical passages to a sort of sprechstimme that brings to mind some of Schönberg's experiments in the genre. Attached to a more compelling libretto, it would be well worth a listen.

The performers do a decent job with this material, although elocution was the worst I've heard at OTSL this year, and large passages of dialog were simply incomprehensible. Raymond Very and Christine Goerke, as the Male and Female Chorus, fare the best here, although I found it hard to share their passion for the story being told. Ron Baker cuts an impressive figure as Tarquinius, both vocally and physically, as do Samuel Mungo as Junius and Andrew Wentzel as Collatinus. Robynne Redmon sings beautifully as Lucretia, but is otherwise rather miscast. Not so Anita Johnson, who is just about perfect in the minor role of Lucia, the maid.

Stephen Lord and the OTSL orchestra give a clear, precise reading of Britten's music, and Erhard Rom's scenic design is appropriately stark and drab. Unfortunately, so is the entire production, and unless you're a die-hard Britten fan, I can't really recommend spending nearly two and a half hours of your time watching this opera.

The Rape of Lucretia continues through June 28th in rotating repertory with three other operas at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University Campus. Call 961-0644 for ticket information.