STUDENT STUDY GUIDE
2018/19 SEASON
Esther Nelson Stanford Calderwood General & Artistic Director David Angus Music Director John Conklin Artistic Advisor
March 9, 2019
Dear Educator, Boston Lyric Opera is pleased to invite high school and college students to attend Final Dress Rehearsals throughout our Season. We look forward to welcoming you and your students to the Artists For Humanity EpiCenter for BLO’s immersive production of Benjamin Britten’s 20th century interpretation of The Rape of Lucretia. This opera explores the impact of a disturbing act of violence against one individual, mining the psychology and circumstances of the offender leading up to the rape, as well as the trauma, courage, and devastation of the survivors in its aftermath. Therefore, it is important to know that this opera contains scenes of violence, misogyny, sexual assault, and suicide. In order to help you best prepare for the opera, please note that this Study Guide describes plot details and events and discusses subject matter that may be sensitive to some. Our intent is to provide support in historical as well as contemporary context, along with tools to thoughtfully discuss the opera with your students. BLO is partnering with Boston Area Rape Crisis Center and Casa Myrna for this production. On page 22, we provide resources for each of these community organizations specifically geared toward young people. As you discuss this in your classroom, consider that there may be students who are personally affected by the subject matter. It may also be important to remind your students that as an educator you are legally obligated to report sensitive information they may choose to disclose. Opera is an art form that can contain big, difficult emotions and BLO aims to provide a community forum from which to explore and discuss them. The experience of seeing and hearing live, professional opera is second to none, and we encourage you to explore the world of the opera in your classroom as well. We are proud to offer this Study Guide to support your discussions and preparations for The Rape of Lucretia. We’ve included special insights into this particular production as well as the opera’s history with connections to Social Studies and English Language Arts. Boston Lyric Opera’s mission is to build curiosity, enthusiasm, and support for opera. This Study Guide is one way in which we support the incredible work of educators like you, who are inspired by this beautiful art form and introduce it to your students. As we continue to develop additional Study Guides, we want your feedback. Please tell us about how you use this guide and how it can best serve your needs by emailing education@blo.org. If you’re interested in additional opera education opportunities with Boston Lyric Opera, please visit blo.org/education to discover more about our programs. We look forward to seeing you at the EpiCenter! Sincerely,
Rebecca Ann S. Kirk Manager of Education Programs
TABLE OF CONTENTS HISTORY OF OPERA: AN OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF OPERA......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA SYNOPSIS............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 11 THE REVIVALIST OF ENGLISH OPERA............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 12 WHO TELLS THE STORY?.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 THE TEST OF TIME........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15 WHEN IN ROME......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR?....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 A WOMAN’S STORY.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18 WHY NOW?............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 19 LISTEN UP!.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 20 RESOURCES.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
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NOTES TO PREPARE FOR THE OPERA........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 24
THE HISTORY OF OPERA Toccata from L’Orfeo. Claudio Monteverdi Favola in musica. Reprint of the First Edition of the Score, Venice 1609, via Wikimedia Commons
People have been telling stories through music for millennia throughout the world. Opera is an art form with roots in Western Europe dating back hundreds of years. Here is a brief timeline of its lineage.
RENAISSANCE 1573 The Florentine Camerata was founded in Italy, devoted to reviving ancient Greek musical traditions, including sung drama. 1598 Jacopo Peri, a member of the Camerata, composed the world’s first opera – Dafne, reviving the classic myth. 1607 Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) wrote the first opera to become popular, Orfeo, making him the premier opera composer of his day and bridging the gap between Renaissance and Baroque music. His works are still performed today. BAROQUE
1600-1750
1637 The first public opera house, Teatro San Cassiano, was built in Venice, Italy. 1673 Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), an Italian-born composer, brought opera to the French court, creating a unique style, tragédie en musique, that better suited the French language. Blurring the lines between recitative and aria, he created fast-paced dramas to suit the tastes of French aristocrats. 1689 Henry Purcell’s (1659-1695) simple and elegant chamber opera, Dido and Aeneas, premiered at Josias Priest’s boarding school for girls in London. 1712 George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), a German-born composer, moved to London, where he found immense success writing intricate and highly ornamented Italian opera seria (serious opera). Ornamentation refers to stylized, fast-moving notes, usually improvised by the singer to make a musical line more interesting and to showcase their vocal talent.
Dido and Aeneas, 1747, Pompeo Batoni, via Wikimedia Commons
1730-1820
CLASSICAL
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1750s A reform movement, led by composer Christoph Gluck (1714-1787), rejected the flashy ornamented style of the Baroque in favor of simplicity refined to enhance the drama. 1767 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) wrote his first opera at age 11, beginning his 25-year opera career. Mozart mastered, then innovated in several operatic forms. He wrote operas serias, including La Clemenza di Tito, and operas buffas (comedic operas) like Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro). He then combined the two genres in Don Giovanni, calling it dramma giocoso. Mozart also innovated on the form of Singspiel (German sung play), featuring spoken dialogue, as in Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute).
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
1805 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) although a prolific composer, wrote only one opera, Fidelio. The extremes of musical expression in Beethoven’s music pushed the boundaries in the late Classical period and inspired generations of Romantic composers.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
1790-1910
Giuseppe Verdi
Giacomo Puccini
Richard Wagner
ROMANTIC — THE GOLDEN AGE OF OPERA 1816 Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) composed Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), becoming the most prodigious opera composer in Italy by age 24. He wrote 39 operas in 20 years. A new style created by Rossini and his contemporaries, including Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini, would, a century later, be referred to as bel canto (beautiful singing). Bel canto compositions were inspired by the nuanced vocal capabilities of the human voice and its expressive potential. Composers employed a strategic use of register, the push and pull of tempo (rubato), extremely smooth and connected phrases (legato), and vocal glides (portamento). 1842 Inspired by the risqué popular entertainment of French vaudeville, Hervé created the first operetta, a short comedic musical drama with spoken dialogue. Responding to popular trends, this new form stood in contrast to the increasingly serious and dramatic works at the grand Parisian opera house. Opéra comique as a genre was often not comic, rather realistic or humanistic. Grand Opera, on the contrary, was exaggerated and melodramatic. 1853 Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) completed La Traviata, a story of love, loss, and the struggle of average people, in the increasingly popular realistic style of verismo. Verdi enjoyed immense acclaim during his lifetime, while expanding opera to include larger orchestras, extravagant sets and costumes, and more highly trained voices.
A scene from a 19th-century version of the play The Barber of Seville by Pierre Beaumarchais. Its origins in the commedia dell’arte are shown in this picture which portrays Figaro dressed in the costume and mask of Harlequin. 1884, via Wikimedia Commons
1865 Richard Wagner’s (1813-1883) Tristan und Isolde was the beginning of musical Modernism, pushing the use of traditional harmony to its extreme. His massively ambitious, lengthy operas, often based in German folklore, sought to synthesize music, theater, poetry, and visuals in what he called a Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art). The most famous of these was an epic four-opera drama, Der Ring des Nibelungen, which took him 26 years to write and was completed in 1874. 1871 Influenced by French operetta, English librettist W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) began their 25-year partnership, which produced 14 comic operettas including The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Their works helped inspire the genre of American musical theater. 1874 Johann Strauss II, influenced largely by his father, with whom he shared a name and talent, composed Die Fledermaus, popularizing Viennese musical traditions, namely the waltz, and shaping operetta. 1896 Giacomo Puccini’s (1858-1924) La Bohème captivated audiences with its intensely beautiful music, realism, and raw emotion. Puccini enjoyed huge acclaim during his lifetime for his works.
Mikado theatre poster, Edinburgh, 1885, via Wikimedia Commons
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Hammerstein and Kern
Leonard Bernstein
Scott Joplin
20TH CENTURY 1911 Scott Joplin, “The King of Ragtime,” wrote his only opera, Treemonisha, which was not performed until 1972. The work combined the European late-Romantic operatic style with African American folk songs, spirituals, and dances. The libretto, also by Joplin, was written at a time when literacy among African Americans in the southern United States was rare.
20TH CENTURY
1922 Alban Berg (1885-1935) composed the first completely atonal opera, Wozzeck, dealing with uncomfortable themes of militarism and social exploitation. Wozzeck is in the style of 12-tone music or Serialism. This new compositional style, developed in Vienna by composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951), placed equal importance on each of the 12 pitches in a scale, removing the sense of the music being in a particular key. 1927 American musical theater, commonly referred to as Broadway, was taken more seriously after Jerome Kern’s (1885-1945) Show Boat, words by Oscar Hammerstein, tackled issues of racial segregation and the ban on interracial marriage in Mississippi. 1935 American composer George Gershwin (1898-1937), who was influenced by African American music and culture, debuted his opera, Porgy and Bess, in Boston, MA, with an all-African American cast of classically trained singers. 1945 British composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) gained international recognition with his opera Peter Grimes. Britten, along with Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), was one of the first British opera composers to gain fame in nearly 300 years. 1957 Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), known for synthesizing musical genres, brought together the best of American musical theater, opera, and ballet in West Side Story—a reimagining of Romeo and Juliet in a contemporary setting.
Porgy and Bess by the New York Harlem Theatre, 2009
1987 John Adams (b. 1947) composed one of the great minimalist operas, Nixon in China, the story of Nixon’s 1972 meeting with Chinese leader Mao Zedong. Musical Minimalism strips music down to its essential elements, usually featuring a great deal of repetition with slight variations. TODAY Still a vibrant and evolving art form, opera attracts contemporary composers such as Dominick Argento (b. 1927), Philip Glass (b. 1937), Mark-Anthony Turnage (b. 1960), Thomas Adès (b. 1971), and many others. These composers continue to be influenced by present and historical musical forms in creating new operas that explore current issues or reimagine ancient tales.
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So Young Park as Queen of the Night Photo: Eric Antoniou.
THE SCIENCE AND ART OF OPERA WHY DO OPERA SINGERS SOUND LIKE THAT? Opera is unique among forms of singing in that singers are trained to be able to sing without amplification, in large theaters, over an entire orchestra, and still be heard and understood! This is what sets the art form of opera apart from similar forms such as musical theater. To become a professional opera singer, it takes years of intense physical training and constant practice—not unlike that of a ballet dancer—to stay in shape. Additionally, while ballet dancers can dance through pain and illness, poor health, especially respiratory issues and even allergies, can be severely debilitating for a professional opera singer. Let’s peek into some of the science of this art form.
HOW THE VOICE WORKS Singing requires different parts of the body to work together: the lungs, the vocal cords, the vocal tract, and the articulators (lips, teeth, and tongue). The lungs create a flow of air over the vocal cords, which vibrate. That vibration is amplified by the vocal tract and broken up into words by consonants produced by the articulators. Breath: Any good singer will tell you that good breath support is essential to produce quality sound. Breath is like the gas that goes into your car. Without it, nothing runs. In order to sing long phrases of music with clarity and volume, opera singers access their full lung capacity by keeping the torso elongated and releasing the lower abdomen and diaphragm muscles, which allows air to enter into the lower lobes of the lungs. This is why we associate a certain posture with opera singers. In the past, many operas were staged with singers standing in one place to deliver an entire aria or scene, with minimal activity. Modern productions, however, often demand a much greater range of movement and agility onstage, requiring performers to be physically fit, and disproving the stereotype of the “fat lady sings.”
Vibration: If you run your fingers along your throat you will feel a little lump just underneath your chin. That is your “Adam’s Apple,” and right behind it, housed in the larynx (voice-box), are your vocal cords. When air from the lungs crosses over the vocal cords it creates an area of low pressure (google The Bernoulli Effect), which brings the cords together and makes them vibrate. This vibration produces a buzz. The vocal chords can be lengthened or shortened by muscles in the larynx, or by increasing the speed of air flow. This change in the length and thickness of the vocal cords is what allows singers to create different pitches. Higher pitches require long, thin cords, while low pitches require short, thick ones. Professional singers take great pains to protect the delicate anatomy of their vocal cords with hydration and rest, as the tiniest scarring or inflammation can have noticeable effects on the quality of sound produced.
Resonance: Without the resonating chambers in the head, the buzzing of the vocal cords would sound very unpleasant. The vocal tract, a term encompassing the mouth cavity, and the back of the throat, down to the larynx, shapes the buzzing of the vocal cords like a sculptor shapes clay. Shape your mouth in an ee vowel (as in eat), then sharply inhale a few times. The cool sensation you feel at the top and back of your mouth is your soft palate. The soft palate can raise or lower to change the shape of the vocal tract. Opera singers always strive to sing with a raised soft palate, which allows for the greatest amplification of the sound produced by the vocal cords. Different vowel sounds are produced by raising or lowering the tongue. Say the vowels: ee, eh, ah, oh, oo and notice how each vowel requires a slightly lower tongue placement. This area of vocal training is particularly difficult because none of the anatomy is visible from the outside!
Articulation: The lips, teeth, and tongue are all used to create consonant sounds, which separate words into syllables and make language intelligible. Consonants must be clear and audible for the singer to be understood. Because opera singers do not sing with amplification, their articulation must be particularly good. The challenge lies in producing crisp, rapid consonants without interrupting the connection of the vowels (through the controlled exhale of breath) within the musical phrase.
Perfecting every element of this complex singing system requires years of training, and is essential for the demands of the art form. An opera singer must be capable of singing for hours at a time, over the top of an orchestra, in large opera houses, while acting and delivering an artistic interpretation of the music. It is complete and total engagement of mental, physical, and emotional control and expression. Therefore think of opera singers as the Olympic athletes of the stage, sit back, and marvel at what the human body is capable of! 7
Contralto
Somewhat equivalent to the lower female alto role in a chorus, mezzosopranos (mezzo translates as “middle”) are known for their full and expressive qualities. While they don’t sing frequencies quite as high as sopranos, their ranges do overlap, and it is a “darker” tone that sets them apart. One of the most famous mezzo-soprano lead roles is Carmen in Bizet’s Carmen.
Occasionally women have an even lower range that overlaps with the highest male voice. This voice type is rare, and they often play male characters, referred to in opera as trouser roles.
Tenor
The highest male voice; tenors often sing the role of the hero. One of the most famous tenor roles is Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliet. Occasionally men have cultivated very high voices singing in a range similar to a mezzo-soprano, but using their falsetto. Called the Countertenor, this voice type is often found in Baroque music. Countertenors replaced castrati in the heroic lead roles of Baroque opera after the practice of castration was deemed unethical.
A middle-range male voice, baritones can range from sweet and mild in tone, to darker dramatic and full tones. A famous baritone role is Rigoletto in Verdi’s Rigoletto. Baritones who are most comfortable in a slightly lower range are known as Bass-Baritones, a hybrid of the two lowest voice types.
Baritone Bass
Mezzo-Soprano
Opera singers are cast into roles based on their tessitura (the range of notes they can sing comfortably). There are many descriptors that accompany the basic voice types, but here are some of the most common ones:
The lowest male voice, basses often fall into two main categories: basso buffo, which is a comic character who often sings in lower laughter-like tones, and basso profundo, which is as low as the human voice can sing! Doctor Bartolo is an example of a bass role in The Barber of Seville by Rossini.
Bass
C
The highest female voice; some sopranos are designated as coloratura, as they specialize in being able to sing very fast moving notes that are very high in frequency and light in tone, often referred to as “color notes.” One of the most famous coloratura roles is The Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
Soprano
DIFFERENT VOICE TYPES
D
Baritone
E
F
G
A
Tenor Contralto
B
110 HZ
C
D
E
Mezzo-Soprano
F
G
A
Soprano
B
C
220 HZ
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
440 HZ
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
880 HZ
Each of the voice types (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, bass) also tends to be sub-characterized by whether it is more Lyric or Dramatic in tone. Lyric singers tend toward smooth lines in their music, sensitively expressed interpretation, and flexible agility. Dramatic singers have qualities that are attributed to darker, fuller, richer note qualities expressed powerfully and robustly with strong emotion. While its easiest to understand operatic voice types through these designations and descriptions, one of the most exciting things about listening to a singer perform is that each individual’s voice is essentially unique, thus each singer will interpret a role in an opera in a different way. 8
E
F
THE PHYSICS OF OPERA SINGERS What is it about opera singers that allows them to be heard above the orchestra? It’s not that they simply sing louder. The qualities of sound have to do with the relationship between the frequency (pitch) of a sound, represented in a unit of measurement called hertz, and its amplitude, measured in decibels, which the ear perceives as loudness. Only artificially produced sounds, however, create a pure frequency and amplitude (these are the only kind that can break glass). The sound produced by a violin, a drum, a voice, or even smacking your hand on a table, produces a fundamental frequency as well as secondary, tertiary, etc. frequencies known as overtones, or as musicians call them, harmonics. For instance, the orchestra tunes to a concert “A” pitch before a performance. Concert “A” has a frequency of about 440 hertz, but that is not the only pitch you will hear. Progressively softer pitches above that fundamental pitch are produced in multiples of 440 at 880hz, 1320hz, 1760hz, etc. Each different instrument in the orchestra, because of its shape, construction, and mode in which it produces sound, produces different harmonics. This is what makes a violin, for example, have a different color (or timbre) from a trumpet. Generally, the harmonics of the instruments in the orchestra fade around 2500hz. Overtones produced by a human voice—whether speaking, yelling, or singing—are referred to as formants. As the demands of opera stars increased, vocal teachers discovered that by manipulating the empty space within the vocal tract, they could emphasize higher frequencies within the overtone series—frequencies above 2500 hz. This technique allowed singers to perform without hurting their vocal chords, as they are not actually singing at a higher fundamental decibel level than the orchestra. Swedish voice scientist, Johann Sundberg, observed this phenomenon when he recorded the world-famous tenor Jussi Bjoerling in 1970. His research showed multiple peaks in decibel level, with the strongest frequency (overtone) falling between 2500 and 3000 hertz. This frequency, known as the singer’s formant, is the “sweet spot” for singers so that we hear their voices soaring over the orchestra into the opera house night after night.
Listen Up!
Prof. Tecumseh Fitch, evolutionary biologist and cognitive scientist at the University of Vienna, explains the difference between a fundamental frequency and formant frequency in the human voice. For an opera singer, the lower two formants (peaks on a graph) determine the specific vowel sound. The third formant and above add overtones that are specific to each particular singer’s voice, like a fingerprint. When two people sing the same note simultaneously, the high overtones allow your ear to distinguish two voices. 9
Boston Opera House
A RESONANT PLACE The final piece of the puzzle in creating the perfect operatic sound is the opera house or theater itself. Designing the perfect acoustic space can be an almost impossible task, one which requires tremendous knowledge of science, engineering, and architecture, as well as an artistic sensibility. The goal of the acoustician is to make sure that everyone in the audience can clearly understand the music being produced onstage, no matter where they are sitting. A perfectly designed opera house or concert hall (for non-amplified sound) functions almost like gigantic musical instrument. Reverberation is one key aspect in making a singer’s words intelligible or an orchestra’s melodies clear. Imagine the sound your voice would make in the shower or a cave. The echo you hear is reverberation caused by the large, hard, smooth surfaces. Too much reverberation (bouncing sound waves) can make words difficult to understand. Resonant vowel sounds overlap as they bounce off of hard surfaces and cover up quieter consonant sounds. In these environments, sound carries a long way but becomes unclear or, as it is sometimes called, wet–as if the sound were underwater. Acousticians can mitigate these effects by covering smooth surfaces with textured materials like fabric, perforated metal, or diffusers, which absorb and disperse sound. These tools, however, must be used carefully, as too much absorption can make a space dry–meaning the sound onstage will not carry at all and the performers may have trouble even hearing themselves. Imagine singing into a pillow or under a blanket. The shape of the room itself also contributes to the way the audience perceives the music. Most large performance spaces are shaped like a bell–small where the stage is, and growing larger and more spread out in every dimension as one moves farther away. This shape helps to create a clear path for the sound to reach every seat. In designing concert halls or opera houses, big decisions must be made about the construction of the building based on acoustical needs. Even with the best planning, the perfect acoustic is not guaranteed, but professionals are constantly learning and adapting new scientific knowledge to enhance the audience’s experience.
Boston Symphony Hall, opened in 1900, with acoustical design by Harvard physicist Wallace Clement Sabine, was the first concert hall to be designed with scientific acoustic principles in mind. Each seat was mathematically designed and placed for acoustical perfection.
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THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA SYNOPSIS As the title indicates, The Rape of Lucretia contains scenes of violence, misogyny, sexual assault, and suicide. In order to help you best prepare for the opera, please note that this study guide describes plot details and events and discusses subject matter that may be sensitive to some.
Prologue: A man and a woman explain the situation in Rome: the city has been seized by a foreign power and is ruled by fear and terror. Tarquinius, the debauched new prince, is leading its forces against a Greek invasion. The man and the woman describe themselves as outside observers—not unlike a Greek chorus—from a later, Christian era. Act I: Tarquinius, Junius, and Collatinus drinking and enjoying the evening in a military encampment. The previous night, as a test, a group of generals had ridden home to Rome and found their wives engaged in infidelity—all except the faithful Lucretia, wife of Collatinus. Calling all women whores, the jealous and bitter Junius goads Tarquinius into testing Lucretia’s virtue. Tarquinius is aroused by the prospect. He calls for his horse and rides to Rome.
The next morning, Lucretia, withdrawn and distraught, meets Lucia and Bianca. Tarquinius has long since departed. Lucretia sends a messenger to bring her husband Collatinus home. Bianca attempts to stop the messenger, but is too late. Collatinus arrives with Junius, and Lucretia tells them what Tarquinius has done. Collatinus tries to comfort his wife, but she rejects his words and stabs herself. As Collatinus sinks beside his dying wife, Junius uses the death of Lucretia as a symbol to incite the public to rebellion against Tarquinius. The Female Chorus weeps and searches for meaning in all this suffering and pain. The Male Chorus answers her, with a message of Christian redemption.
At home, Lucretia is spinning wool along with her servants Bianca and Lucia, and missing her husband. Tarquinius unexpectedly arrives. Despite her uneasiness, Lucretia, as a dutiful wife and citizen, welcomes Tarquinius and offers him hospitality for the night.
CHARACTERS
Act II: That night, Tarquinius sneaks into Lucretia’s room and watches her sleep. Certain that she desires him as he desires her, he wakes her with a kiss. Lucretia realizes what is happening and begs him to stop. She struggles, but Tarquinius brutally rapes her.
Prince Tarquinius, baritone son of Etruscan tyrant Tarquinius Superbus
Lucretia, mezzo-soprano wife of Collatinus
Collatinus, bass Roman general Junius, baritone Roman general Bianca, mezzo-soprano Lucretia’s nurse Lucia, soprano Lucretia’s maid Male chorus, tenor
The Tragedy of Lucretia by Sandro Botticelli (completed between 1500 and 1501). Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. The Gardner is currently featuring this and other Botticelli works in a special exhibit entitled Botticelli: Heroines & Heroes, through May 19, 2019.
Female chorus, soprano Costume design renderings by Robert Perdziola for BLO’s production of The Rape of Lucretia.
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Britten’s work has been used to score major motion pictures. His Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, several choral compositions, and his opera Noye’s Flude (Noah’s Flood) features prominently in Wes Anderson’s 2012 film Moonrise Kingdom.
THE REVIVALIST OF ENGLISH OPERA Benjamin Britten is considered the first major British operatic composer since the death of Henry Purcell in 1695, with such popularity both in life and death that his operas are performed more so than any other 20th century composer to date. Born in Lowestoft, Suffolk County on the East Coast of England in 1913, Britten studied music from an early age and attended the Royal College of Music in 1930. In addition to his operatic works, he has a wide range of work scored for film, radio, symphony orchestras and choirs. Britten was not so much influenced by his contemporary English composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar, but rather by Baroque-era Englishmen— Percy Grainger and Henry Purcell, as well as early 20th century composers— Gustav Mahler and Alban Berg (who was a colleague of Schoenberg). Inspired by both Baroque and Atonal influences, Britten’s music is measured and precise in almost a mathematical manner. In addition, he gave particular attention to the capacities of the English language and voice with pared-down orchestrations, influenced by the love of his life and collaborator, singer Peter Pears. He is best known today for his large-scale choral works and dramatic operas. In 1939, Britten moved to America for a few years to travel as an artistic ambassador from England. He was very influenced by American mythology composing his first opera about the myth of Paul Bunyan, an American lumberjack. It was not well received; however, upon return to England, Britten composed Peter Grimes (1945), based on a poem about an outcast fisherman. His second opera brought him international success, so that he continued to compose opera, completing 14 over his lifetime with characters dealing with themes such as the loss of innocence, individuals at odds with their society, injustice, and salvation. The Rape of Lucretia was his third opera and premiered in 1946. Britten’s interpretation of this nearly 2500-year-old legend was seen through the lens of post-World War II English society. The libretto was adapted from a French play depicting the story which ran on Broadway in the early 1930s. Remnants of the noble class remained in charge after World War II and still held traditional attitudes towards sex and gender roles. Despite women’s expanding opportunities during wartime (taking over jobs on the Homefront previously done by men), there remained a stigma toward married 12
Publicity photograph of Benjamin Britten, taken in 1968. Photographer Hans Wild for High Fidelity magazine.
The Librettist Ronald Duncan was an English poet and playwright who adapted the play by Frenchman André Obey into the libretto for the opera The Rape of Lucretia. The precise details of how Britten and Duncan met are unclear, but they were both artists and pacifists during the war. Prior to collaborating on an opera, Britten wrote incidental music to accompany Duncan’s plays, which explored the contrast between religious faith and modern skepticism brought on by WWII.
Peter Pears
women working or receiving higher education. Popular dramas of the era continued to portray women as a foil to a man’s success. Even as Britten was a pacifist during the war and held agnostic beliefs, he was steeped in a resurgence of Christian values and morals. At the same time, WWII loomed large in the collective consciousness as individuals, including Britten, attempted to reconcile their religious faith with such atrocities. Therefore his interpretation of the Lucretia legend, as well as most of his other compositions are framed within the Christian tradition of his upbringing and his country. Critical reception of Lucretia at its premiere was mostly, poor, in part for its Christian overlay, and partly for its small orchestra compared to Peter Grimes. The Rape of Lucretia was the first work Britten wrote as a chamber opera, scored for a much smaller orchestra than traditional operas have with only one person per instrument. Lucretia has only eight singers and 13 instrumentalists. Britten's decision to make Lucretia a chamber opera was partly due to the increasing popularity for chamber operas in the 20th century, but also due to a lack of funding after wartime.
Government Censorship At the time Britten wrote Lucretia, The Lord Chamberlain was in charge of granting licenses for theatrical performances. One line that detailed Lucretia’s rape explicitly, even suggesting she was complicit, was said to be so inappropriate by the Lord Chamberlain’s standards it was compared to the banned book, Lady Chatterley’s Lover written by D.H. Lawrence—the epitome of obscene writing at the time. Duncan changed the line and added an epilogue, but some scholars suggest that the forced rewrite strengthened the Christian narrative giving the opera a less complex depiction of Lucretia by making her a martyr.
After The Rape of Lucretia, Britten composed several more operas, notably Albert Herring (1947), Billy Budd (1951), The Turn of the Screw (1954), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1960) and his final opera, Death in Venice (1973). Additionally, Britten wrote many other compositions for chorus and orchestra including his beloved War Requiem (1962). At the end of his life he struggled with a heart condition and passed away in 1976. He was awarded several honorary degrees and additional accolades including, shortly before his death, the designation of Baron by Queen Elizabeth II, thus securing his enduring legacy as reviving English music. DISCUSS: How do you think Britten’s life experiences living through WWII influenced how he chose to depict the Lucretia legend in his opera?
FACT: sexual in 5 women are survivors of Studies have estimated, 1 h an wit e crim d st under-reporte assault. Yet this is still the mo ual sex and e rap orted. This means estimated 63% going unrep ) RC prevalent. (NSV assault is likely much more
Tarquin and Lucretia by Titian, completed in 1571. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. 13
WHO TELLS THE STORY? The story of Lucretia and her rape and subsequent suicide is considered a legend. A legend is an old story passed down through generations that is based in historic events. (As opposed to a myth which is also a story passed down through oral tradition, but is not based in historical events.) Lucretia, her husband Collatinus, and Tarquinius were real people. Yet, because the story is so old, many of the particulars of what actually happened cannot be agreed upon or verified. The story has been used as a cautionary and even a revolutionary story. Many artists have retold or depicted this story through their own frame of reference, coloring it with their own meaning and cultural context thus turning Lucretia herself and the events that transpired into an allegory. Allegory is a story or image that represents hidden political or moral lessons. The story of Lucretia has been retold over the millennia for many reasons, but most often it is used to teach or remind people of a particular moral or political viewpoint. These allegorical meanings are contingent on the author and the
culture they live. Livy’s original telling of the story in Ab Urbe Condita Libri (History of Rome) focused on Lucretia as a catalyst for political action to transform Rome from a Monarchy to a Republic. Over 400 years later when Rome was Christian, the philosopher St. Augustine retold Lucretia’s story in City of God trying to defend the Christian women that were raped during the Sack of Rome in 410. The Shakespearean poem The Rape of Lucrece places Lucretia in a morality tale as a tragic figure with a bad deed done upon her, focusing on her purity and eventual suffering and death. This tragedy makes Lucretia into a heroic character placing her suffering center stage for the cathartic benefit of the audience. Britten and Duncan’s Christian depiction equates Lucretia to the innocent victims of World War II and offers a way for the broken country to grapple with its moral undoings amongst the affects of the Fascist regimes that rose across Europe. In each retelling—and there are many others—Lucretia is written to have different levels of agency in her rape and varying reasons for her to decision to commit suicide.
The Rape of Lucretia by Luca Giordano. Oil on canvas.1663.
Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae: Bust of Livy by Giovanni Ambrogio Brambilla, after Nicolas Beatrizet (1582). Metropolitan Museum of Art, Prints Collection.
Portrait of Shakespeare by John Taylor (1610). National Portrait Gallery, London.
Lucretia’s story has been manipulated over the years for political and moral purposes, with details ever-changing, yet it is critical to note that this story has never been told by Lucretia herself. Her trauma has passed through countless hands each rewriting questioning, and usurping her story. We present this opera in 2019, when corrupt regimes still come to power across the Globe, and stories of sexual violence are questioned and manipulated often to the further detriment of the survivor. DISCUSS: What would this opera sound like if it was told by Lucretia herself?
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FACT: in the U.S. is Every 98 seconds someone ) NN sexually assaulted. (RAI
THE TEST OF TIME Like a very long game of “telephone,” many artists, philosophers, and storytellers have retold the story of Lucretia over the millennia, and each through their own cultural context. Some depict her story as romantic, others political, some tragic, some moral or a cautionary tale, yet her story continues to be retold century after century. Here are a few of the more notable retellings: 25–8 BC
Titus Livy, Roman historian—The earliest known written account
60–6 BC
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, writer historian—Greek account
8 AD Ovid, Roman poet—In The Book of Days accounting historical events in Latin 426 AD St. Augustine, philosopher theologian—Provides a Christian moral context 14th Century
Dante, poet—Lucretia appears in Inferno, part of this epic poem Divine Comedy
Late 1300s
Geoffrey Chaucer, English poet—Lucretia appears in several of his works
Late 1500s
William Shakespeare, English poet and playwright— wrote an epic poem of Lucretia’s story, and included allusions to her in several of his plays
St. Augustine by Antonio Rodríguez. 1636 – 1691. Oil on Canvas.
DISCUSS: Why do you think there aren’t there any famous depictions of Lucretia in 21st century art?
FACT: NN) ual violence walk free (RAI 99% of perpetrators of sex
1501 Sandro Botticelli, painter—depicting The Tragedy of Lucretia 1607 Thomas Haywood, playwright—wrote a play of The Rape of Lucretia 1645 Artemisia Lomi Gentileschi, painter—depicted the rape scene 1666 Rembrandt, painter—painting depicting Lucretia at the moment of suicide 1769 Joan Ramis, historian—wrote of the tragedy in Catalan 1804 Damià Campeny, sculptor—depicted Lucretia at the moment of death 1931 André Obey, French playwright—wrote a play of The Rape of Lucretia 1945 Benjamin Britten, composer—opera of The Rape of Lucretia
Tarquin and Lucretia by Titian, completed in 1571. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
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WHEN IN ROME
During 6th Century BC, women in Rome held no political power and only wielded influence if they were the daughters of nobility or married to nobility because they were highly valuable property by lineage.
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Women were the property of their fathers until they married—for political and social gain and the production of offspring—for which they became property of their husband. That said, women in the upper classes were well educated and expected to take an active role in maintaining their family’s status in society. Roman culture placed an emphasis on the chastity— meaning purity, a characteristic that was retained within a marriage—of women as a measure of her worth: virginity until marriage and sex with only her husband. This standard was different for men where was common for them to have multiple partners even if they were married—as long as their extra marital relations were with unmarried women (i.e. prostitution, which was accepted and legal) or other young men. Men were measured by their virtue, which corresponded to respect and self-control. The more virtuous a man, the more political and social power he held, but this did not correspond to his fidelity to his wife. Political corruption and tyranny were often attributed to an inability to control oneself sexually. Since women were property, attitudes towards rape and adultery were
The etymology of the word rape comes from the Latin meaning "to carry away or abduct." Before the meaning of the word came to be exclusively associated with sexual acts, it meant "to seize by force." (Although it was not uncommon for a woman to be literally stolen in order to be taken as a wife without her father’s consent, and with or without hers.) In Ancient Rome, there was a different term referring to a sex crime so that eventually raptus ad stuprum referred specifically to abduction in order to commit a sex crime.
complicated in Ancient Rome. While on the one hand, it was not illegal for a man to “take” another’s wife, as it was more akin to theft or vandalism, for which the man would be reprimanded. On the other, the woman who was raped, like Lucretia, lost all her value to her husband and social standing for her family and her husband would have had the right to kill her if he wished. The Romans associated sexual crimes very strongly with both civil as well as religious deviance, eliciting both legal punishment as well as the belief that it angered and disrespected the gods and would bring misfortune upon those involved. Eventually once the Roman Republic was formed, legally rape was defined as a crime and the victim was considered innocent as long as she was in good social standing (i.e. not a slave, a prostitute, or entertainer). However, legal and social definitions changed again with the spread of early Christianity in Roman civilization where the victim was also considered complicit as she implicitly tempted her aggressor. DISCUSS: How have attitudes towards women changed since Ancient Roman times? How have they stayed the same?
FACT: ople per minute are On average, nearly 20 pe d imate partner in the Unite physically abused by an int 10 cases of rape, the States. And in eight out of tor. (NSVRC ) survivor knew the perpetra
Roman Forum, Ancient Rome
It is widely agreed upon that Lucretia’s death occurred in 508 B.C and thus is the setting for Britten’s opera. Against the backdrop of a tyrannical king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (often known as “Tarquin the Proud”), Lucretia’s death is said to have catalyzed the overthrow of the Roman Monarchy founded nearly 250 years earlier, laying the foundation for the Roman Republic. The Roman king was constantly warring with neighboring tribes and killing members of his own populace, and Lucretia’s rape by the King’s son (Sextus Tarquinius) allowed opponents, namely her husband Collatinus and Junius, to gain momentum and overthrow the monarchy. Though the details of the exact sequence of events leading up to the rape of Lucretia and her subsequent suicide has been reimagined hundreds of times over by numerous writers, playwrights, visual artists, composers, actors, film-makers etc., Lucretia’s story is nearly always a tragic means-to-an-end, for political and social power.
Tarquinius en Lucretia, Oil on panel. 1575.Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR? Suicide, especially on the operatic stage, is often romanticized as a part of a love story following guilt over adulterous wrongdoing or pain over lost love such as Cio-Cio San in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Senta in Wagner’s Flying Dutchman. In a study of 337 operas spanning 400 years, there was at least one suicide in 74 operas, most often of female characters and all as a direct result of an emotionally devastating event or situation. Feminist critic Catherine Clement in her book, Opera, or the Undoing of Women, states, “Opera … is no different from the other artistic products of our culture; it records a tale of male domination and female oppression. Only it does so more blatantly and, alas, more seductively than any other art form.” The Ancient Romans believed in the idea of “death before dishonor” or a type of patriotic suicide, especially on the battlefield. This relates to a collective identity that an individual’s actions reflect on the whole of the community, so that to avoid dishonoring the whole community, one would self-sacrifice for the greater good. If Lucretia’s identity and social worth were solely and entirely defined by her chastity—her purity—and her family and community, especially her husband’s and father’s honor depended on it, she sacrificed herself to “save” those she loved and respected. With the Christian lens that Britten specifically highlights in his opera, Lucretia becomes a martyr—her violation and sacrifice is viewed as redeemed in death. There are even stories from early Christian tradition where women committed suicide to escape rape and remain pure in the eyes of God. Scholars have argued that by Lucretia taking her own life, she demonstrated agency after her attack—reclaiming her own body and fate. In some versions of her story even, Lucretia calls for revenge to be taken on her behalf. This is a more modern interpretation however, as within Roman culture, Lucretia was the property of her husband and her value was measured solely through her chastity. There is a term used today called secondary victimization, in which a survivor of rape faces not only the residual trauma from act of a violence, but also the blame and social stigma. It is with this modern understanding that we can begin to understand why Lucretia made the choice to take her own life as she found herself weighted not only by her own trauma, but also through the social context of her time. The legend of Lucretia ends with Junius using Lucretia’s corpse as a public example of the tyrannical actions of Tarquinius, thus publicizing her private story for political gain that was said to incite war against the Roman monarchy overthrowing the king and
Lucretia by Rembrandt (1666). Andrew W. Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
establishing a Republic. Therefore the story is told so that what happens to Lucretia becomes merely a means to an end, a catalyst that turned the tide of war and changed history. Each interpretation of Lucretia’s story ripples out into society and becomes disassociated from one woman’s deeply personal trauma. From cautionary tale, to allegory the story shifts so that Lucretia herself does not matter, rather it is us—society, the audience, the chorus, who are affected. While the Romans used Lucretia’s story for political gain, Christians used her story as a morality tale, and other more modern scholars analyze the particulars of her story for social commentary—to explain our human nature within a particular cultural context, either historical or contemporary. DISCUSSION: Why do we retell the story of Lucretia? What is compelling and important in this story to you?
FACT: e. 33% mmonly reported after rap Thoughts of suicide are co have 13% and e cid ntemplate sui of women who are raped co ) attempted suicide. (NSVRC
Dead Lucrecia (1804), by Catalan sculptor Damià Campeny. Barcelona: Llotja de Mar.
Geraldine Farrar as Madame Butterfly, 9 April 1908 Photographer: A. Dupont Studio, N.Y. 17
A WOMAN’S STORY Although the legend of Lucretia has had countless retellings, and all of them by men, this does not mean that women have not had a prominent role in interpreting the story presented to audiences, most prominently through the singers who perform the lead role as well as the directors mounting of the piece. The Rape of Lucretia was first performed at Glyndenbourne Opera House in England in 1946. English contralto Kathleen Ferrier, an internationally famous recording artist made her stage debut originating the role of Lucretia after Britten heard her perform Handel’s Messiah at Westminster Abbey. It is widely regarded that Britten composed The Rape of Lucretia with Ferrier in mind. Though the production was not met with favorable reviews, Ferrier’s performance was celebrated, it propelled her career forward, and she was remembered in part as it was one of only a few staged opera performances she ever gave. Playbill released a study of 30 new productions announced for the 2016 Broadway season and only six had female directors attached to them. Although men still dominate the creative leadership in the performing arts, this is slowly beginning to change. All four of Boston Lyric Opera’s productions this Season are directed by women (although they were all composed by men). The United States debut of The Rape of Lucretia took place at the Ziegfeld Theatre on Broadway in 1948. Famed American choreographer Agnes de Mille directed the production. De Mille had choreographed multiple Broadway musical productions by this point including Carousel (1945) and Brigadoon (1947) and she was lifelong friends with Martha
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Graham, the mother of modern dance. De Mille received strong reviews for her fluid and sensitive treatment to the staging, even as Britten and Duncan’s work was criticized. It is not uncommon for choreographers to take on the directorial role for an opera, especially with throughcomposed work where the music doesn’t pause, as the stage action then becomes highly choreographed movement in time with the music. Boston Lyric Opera’s world premiere of Tod Machover’s Schoenberg in Hollywood (2018) was directed by choreographer Karole Armitage. BLO’s production of The Rape of Lucretia is directed by Sarna Lapine, who also has had an illustrious career as a Broadway director working on shows including The Light in the Piazza (2005) and Sunday in the Park with George (2016). Directors have a responsibility to Lucretia’s story as their staging decisions affect how the audience interprets the story. For example, Lapine chose to remove the intermission that normally takes place after the rape scene. Although The Rape of Lucretia was composed by two men based on other previous versions by men, it is important to recognize the female directors who have reclaimed this narrative and notice how they interpret the story. Our production will also not be performed in a traditional theater space, rather a modern gallery space at the Artists For Humanity EpiCenter—an arts organization whose mission strives to create social change. Our scenic designer, Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams, has designed an immersive setting in the gallery space so that she, Sarna Lapine, and the rest of the creative team will guide audiences to experience this ancient legend and twentieth century opera with the consciousness of today. DISCUSSION: How would you depict this opera if you were the Director?
Agnes De Mille (1941) playing 'The Priggish Virgin' in the ballet Three Virgins and a Devil (Tre Vergini e un Diavolo) photographed by Carl Van Vechten
Nancy Evans and Kathleen Ferrier (who shared the role of Lucretia in the first run of the opera) having their costumes fitted at Glyndebourne (1945).
Set installation renderings by Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams for BLO’s production of The Rape of Lucretia.
FACT: es 18-24 are Female college students ag n women in three times more likely tha experience the general population to sexual violence. (RAINN)
WHY NOW? With each retelling of Lucretia, artists interpret the story through their own cultural context in present time, even as the work may still be set in Ancient Rome. This is our human nature—to tell stories, old and new, in order to make meaning of our lives and our world. By producing The Rape of Lucretia today, Boston Lyric Opera, is engaging in the current dialogue surrounding violence against women, sexual assault, and suicide that the 2,500-year-old example of Lucretia depicts. Rape and sexual violence is still pervasive occurring in every country of the world and across race, gender, and social class. In the United States, we are currently making sense of the increasingly publicly expressed collective consciousness of the #MeToo movement, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony, accusations against R. Kelly, Harvey Weinstein, and leaders in the Catholic Church, Title IX rollbacks, and our president’s remarks. Even as survivors feel empowered and compelled to speak out more and more, we still acknowledge the backlog of rape kits yet to be processed, perpetrators who escape accountability, and a deeply-seated cultural history of casting blame and disbelief onto survivors—one that dates back as far as the ancient western civilizations that originated the Lucretia legend.
Artists and arts organizations, as custodians of culture, are responding to a sense of social responsibility to engage in the pressing social dialogue of our time. The arts engage with challenging questions and present a point of view, which may provoke strong emotion, critique, and dialogue. Artists make meaning of the world around them and tell compelling stories. Audiences engage with the arts for many reasons, including to make meaning of their own worldview, to find common ground in others stories, or for catharsis. Popular recording artists like Lady Gaga have used their art to stand in solidarity with survivors of sexual violence and bring awareness to the more intimate emotions through the power of music. Other artists’ careers, like singer-songwriter MLCK, have been launched from honestly engaging with the subject and finding an audience who seek catharsis and community through music. Even in opera, companies across the world are questioning how old narratives may be revisited to shed light on challenging issues in new ways, as well as presenting new works that open the dialogue further. For The Rape of Lucretia, and our final opera of the season, The Handmaid’s Tale, Boston Lyric Opera has partnered with two local organizations: Boston Area Rape Crisis Center and Casa Myrna.
Lady Gaga, 2017.
Lady Gaga’s ‘Till it Happens to You
MLCK’s I Can’t Keep Quiet
These organizations offer medical, legal, and social resources and support to survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, as well as a variety of prevention and outreach programs aimed at educating youth and adults. BLO acknowledges that while we bring up these sensitive issues through the presentation of our operas, we are not the experts in them. Therefore, the partnership with BARCC and Casa Myrna brings awareness, training, and support as we present, rehearse, and perform the work, as well as engage our audiences in these issues and challenging conversations. What happened to Lucretia 2,500 years ago is still happening today. DISCUSS: Do you think artists have a responsibility to engage with social issues of our time?
#metoo founder Tarana Burke
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testifies in front of Congress, 2018.
FACT: Over 100,000 rape kits are States— backlogged in the United cklog ba a e hav Boston does not g) .or log ack though! (Endtheb
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LISTEN UP! Big or Little Britten wrote The Rape of Lucretia as a chamber opera. Listen to a selection from the opera Peter Grimes he wrote just before, which was for full orchestra and compare with the ensemble for Lucretia. How does the orchestration influence the story-telling? The Storm Peter Grimes
Listen Up!
Act II Interlude The Rape of Lucretia
Listen Up!
Dramatic Intent Listen to these two different dramatic moments in The Rape of Lucretia and compare and contrast them: • Here Tarquinius is watching Lucretia sleep in the moment before he wakes her. The music is melodic and beautiful, but with an underlying foreboding : Act 2, Scene 1: Within this frail crucible of light
Listen Up!
• Once Lucretia is awakened the action speeds up and the music changes: Act 2, Scene 1: Lucretia…What do you want?
Listen Up!
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Christian Influence As part of Britten’s Christian perspective on the Lucretia legend, Britten has two chorus, one man and one woman, commenting on and observing the action as bystanders. They explain their role in a hymn-like manner at the end of this selection: Act 1, Scene 1: It is an axiom among kings Listen Up!
Britten’s Influence Britten also wrote symphony for young people to teach about music. It was featured in the beginning of Wes Anderson’s film, Moonrise Kingdom (2012). It also showcases the influence Henry Purcell had on his composing style.
Listen Up!
GENERAL QUESTIONS TO GUIDE YOUR LISTENING • What instruments are playing? • How fast is the music? Are there sudden changes in speed? Is the rhythm steady or unsteady? • Key/Mode: Is it major or minor? (Does it sound bright, happy, sad, urgent, dangerous?) • Dynamics/Volume: Is the music loud or soft? Are there sudden changes in volume (either in the voice or orchestra)? • What is the shape of the melodic line? Does the voice move smoothly or does it make frequent or erratic jumps? Do the vocal lines move noticeably downward or upward? • Does the type of voice singing (baritone, soprano, tenor, mezzo, etc.) have an effect on you as a listener? • Do the melodies end as you would expect or do they surprise you? • How does the music make you feel? What effect do the above factors have on you as a listener? • What is the orchestra doing in contrast to the voice? How do they interact? • What kinds of images, settings, or emotions come to mind? Does it remind you of anything you have experienced in your own life? • Do particularly emphatic notes (low, high, held, etc.) correspond to dramatic moments? • What type of character fits this music? Romantic? Comic? Serious? Etc. 21
RESOURCES
GET INFORMED Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) Casa Myrna National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) GET SUPPORT Call 800.656.HOPE (4673) to be connected with a trained staff member from asexual assault service provider in your area. You’ll be routed to a local RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) affiliate organization based on the first six digits of your phone number. Cell phone callers have the option to enter the ZIP code of their current location to more accurately locate the nearest sexual assault service provider. 24/7 Hotline: 800-841-8371 or chat online 9:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m. for free. BARCC offers confidential support services for yourself or if you are worried about a friend. Services include a listening ear, hospital accompaniment, counseling and legal services. Call Safe Link 1-877-785-2020 Safe Link is Massachusetts' Statewide Domestic Violence Prevention Hotline operated by Casa Myrna Additional Resources for men, teens, and members of the LGBTQ+ community TAKE ACTION Volunteer at BARCC or Casa Myrna: Get trained to work the hotline, be a medical advocate, do community outreach and education, work events, or fundraise.
Tips for supporting friend or family member who has experienced sexual assault or domestic violence:
Get trained to prevent sexual violence:
Do: believe the survivor no matter what and tell them that. Ask questions like, “do you need anything from me? What would help you feel safe now?”
BARCC’s Community Awareness and Prevention Services (CAPS) program provides education and training to schools, college campuses, police, businesses, community-based organizations, and communities BARCC offers workshops specific for all ages. Host an Outreach Table: Help raise awareness about BARCC’s and Casa Myrna's services and reach more survivors. Be a youth advocate to educate your community on sexual violence: BARCC Youth Leadership Corps Casa Myrna Youth Peer Leader Program
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Don’t: ask questions like: what we’re you wearing? We’re you drinking? Are you sure it was rape?
Don’t: force the survivor to go to the police or the hospital or the school. Do: offer the option to do so, and offer to come along, and support their decisions on how they would like to proceed. Don’t: comment on who the perpetrator was or say things like “I can’t believe they would do that!” Do: support them with the information they have given you. Don’t: tell anybody else. Do: ask if there is anybody they would like to tell and if they would like you to support them. Don’t: treat them like they are damaged. Do: acknowledge their bravery for telling you, continue to invite them out and have unrelated conversations. Don’t expect them to heal immediately, however, validate their feelings and their healing process.
BOOKS Harper-Scott, J. (2013). Post-War Women in Britten. In P. Rupprecht (Ed.), Rethinking Britten. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Matthews, D. (2013). Britten. London: Haus. Riding, A., & Downer, L. D. (2006). DK Eyewitness Companions: Opera. New York, NY: DK. JOURNALS Cusick, S. G., & Hershberger, M. A. (2018). Sexual Violence in Opera: Scholarship, Pedagogy, and Production as Resistance. Journal of the American Musicological Society, 71(1), 213-253. Harper-Scott, J. (2009). Britten’s Opera About Rape. Cambridge Opera Journal, 21(1), 65-88. Pridmore, S. A., Auchincloss, S., Soh, N. L., & Walter, G. J. (2013). Four centuries of suicide in opera. Medical Journal of Australia, 199(11), 783-786. NEWSPAPER ARTICLES Baranello, M. (2015). When Cries of Rape Are Heard in Opera Halls. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/arts/music/when-cries-of-rape-are-heard-in-opera-halls.html Clements, A. (2001). Small wonder. The Gaurdian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2001/jun/01/artsfeatures1 Greer, G. (2001). Let’s forget the rape shall we? The Gaurdian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/jun/01/classics.arts Higgins, C. (2016). Is opera the most misogynistic art form? The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/26/is-opera-the-most-misogynistic-art-form WEBSITES A Brief History of the Anti-Rape Movement. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.resourcesharingproject.org/brief-history-anti-rape-movement About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://afhboston.org/ Benjamin Britten. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benjamin-Britten Benjamin Britten. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://brittenpears.org/ Biography of Kathleen Ferrier. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.kathleenferrier.org.uk/index.php/biography Duncan and Britten. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.ronaldduncanfoundation.co.uk Women, Impact of the Great Depression On. (2004). Retrieved from https://www.encyclopedia.com/economics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/women-impact-great-depression
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NOTES TO PREPARE FOR THE OPERA You will see a full dress rehearsal–an insider’s look into the final moments of preparation before an opera premieres. The singers will be in full costume and makeup, the opera will be fully staged, and a full orchestra will accompany the singers, who may choose to “mark,” or not sing in full voice, in order to save their voices for the performances. A final dress rehearsal is often a complete run-through, but there is a chance the director or conductor will ask to repeat a scene or section of music. This is the last opportunity the performers have to rehearse with the orchestra before opening night, and they therefore need this valuable time to work. The following will help you better enjoy your experience of a night at the opera: • Arrive on time! Latecomers will be seated only at suitable breaks in the performance and often not until intermission. • Dress in what you are comfortable in so that you may enjoy the performance. For some, that means dressing up in a suit or gown, for others, jeans and a polo shirt fit the bill. Generally “dressy-casual” is what people wear. Live theater is usually a little more formal than a movie theater. Please do not take off your shoes or put your feet on the seat in front of you. • Respect your fellow opera lovers by not leaning forward in your seat so as to block the person’s view behind you, and by turning off (not on vibrate) cell phones and other electronic devices that could make noise during the performance. Lit screens are also very distracting to your neighbors, so please keep your phone out of sight until the house lights come up. • Taking photos or making audio or video recordings is strictly forbidden. • Do not chew gum, eat, drink, or talk while the rehearsal is in session. If you must visit the restroom during the performance, please exit quickly and quietly. • At the very beginning of the opera, the concertmaster of the orchestra will ask the oboist to play the note “A.” You will hear all the other musicians in the orchestra tune their instruments to match the oboe’s “A.” • After all the instruments are tuned, the conductor will arrive. Be sure to applaud! • Feel free to applaud or shout Bravo! at the end of an aria or chorus piece if you liked it. The end of a piece can be identified by a pause in the music. Singers love an appreciative audience! • It’s OK to laugh when something is funny! • When translating songs and poetry in particular, much can be lost due to a change in rhythm, inflection and rhyme of words. For this reason, opera is usually performed in its original language. In order to help audiences enjoy the music and follow every twist and turn of the plot, English supertitles are projected.
• Sit back, relax and let the action on stage pull you in. As an audience member, you are essential to the art form of opera—without you, there is no show!
HAVE FUN AND ENJOY THE OPERA!
Boston Opera House
• Listen for subtleties in the music. The tempo, volume, and complexity of the music and singing depict the feelings or actions of the characters. Also, notice repeated words or phrases; they are usually significant.
