The prime focus of Aldeburgh's annual Britten weekend was the composer's second opera, its chamber proportions suiting the Maltings' intimate acoustic. Yet the flawed nature of The Rape of Lucretia continues to pose difficulties, effectively condemning it to the rank of outsider in Britten's oeuvre, where many works are themselves based on individuals who stand apart.
Lucretia does so precisely by virtue of her character: loyal to her husband Collatinus, upholding moral values other women do not. The problem lies in the insertion - apparently at Britten's behest - of Christian beliefs into a classical story, offering the promise of heavenly redemption as solace in the wake of Lucretia's suicide.
It is to director Edward Dick's great credit that he transforms the often static, stylised structure into something altogether more involving. His device is simple. The Male and Female Choruses are no mere observers: at first they investigate the crime but, in establishing context and motive, they get involved in the re-enaction, like guardian angels. Were it not for the title, one could almost be seduced into believing Lucretia might be spared her violation by Tarquinius.
But the chorus is helpless in the face of fate, and it is the music's mix of lyrical rapture with the inevitability of ritualistic forms - the horse-ride as well as the lamenting passacaglia - that conductor David Parry handles so well.
The cast is strong, with Blythe Gaissert's eloquent Lucretia ably supported by Robyn Driedger-Klassen's Female Chorus and Eve-Lyn de la Haye's Lucia; the stark set makes optimum use of the Snape stage. Ultimately, the piece remains unsatisfactory, but Dick's passionate advocacy alone is enough to recommend this production.
