Book Reveals that "Rape of Lucretia" was Censored

Christopher Maltman (L) and Nathan Gunn (R) in Rape of Lucretia

Censorship in opera is not a 20th century phenomenon, as masters like Giuseppe Verdi saw some of their greatest operas altered by the moralists and political watchdogs of the day. Verdi ran afoul of both the religious and political entities of his time, perhaps most famously in Un Ballo in Maschera, with the offense being the assassination of a king.

Rigoletto would never have been produced had Verdi not changed the prostitute-loving King Francis I of Victor Hugo’s Le roi s’amuse to the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto. Rather than the Duke being killed, Verdi ends up killing Gilda.

La Forza del Destino, Luisa Miller and La Traviata were all famously altered after the censors weighed in.

Michael Krzankowski in Seattle

It should come as no surprise that Benjamin Britten was also the victim of the censors. He not only dealt with issues like the injustices of war, but dealt with homosexuality and even pedophilia, topics that were taboo in England at the time. Don't forget that it wasn't much earlier that Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for "gross indecency" and for being a sodomite.

A new book on Benjamin Britten by Paul Kildea, a conductor and expert on the composer, has now revealed that his opera "The Rape of Lucretia" was altered by the censors. The most notable line was the changing of the following lines:

Male Chorus: “He takes her hand/And places it upon his unsheathed sword.”

Female Chorus: “Thus wounding her with an equal lust/A wound only his sword can heal”.

These lines were changed to the far less poetic:

“Tarquinius – 'Poised like a dart’/Lucretia – 'At the heart of woman’/Male Chorus – 'Man climbs towards his God’/ Female Chorus: 'Then falls to his lonely hell’.” 

Amazingly, Britten's "Peter Grimes," which deals with the mysterious disappearance of young boys at the hands of a sailor, made it past the censors. However, the censors did make this comment:

“It is all very wafty and nebulous and I don’t pretend I can make sense of the plot from the verses, but there is no offence in them or in the production. Perhaps Benjamin Britten’s music will carry it through.” 

You can read more at the the Telegraph. You can also check out our photo tribute to Rape of Lucretia, which has provided us with some of our favorite pictures over the years.

Don't forget that there are only eight days left to purchase your 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar:

Rod Gilfry to Join Deborah Voigt in "Annie Get Your Gun'

Barihunk Rod Gilfry, who is currently singing the role of Emile de Becque in a touring cast of “South Pacific” is joining forces with soprano Deborah Voigt to perform "Annie Get Your Gun" at the Glimmerglass Opera Festival. Gilfry will play Annie Oakley’s love interest, Frank Butler.

Gilfry appears to have made a seemless transition from opera to Broadway following a long tradition of baritones that includes Ezio Pinza, Giorgio Tozzi and fellow barihunk Paulo Szot, who created a sensation in “South Pacific.”

“Annie Get Your Gun” is one of four productions scheduled for Glimmerglass. Recently appointed artistic director Francesca Zambello has decided to add an unamplified performance of a Broadway musical to future seasons, which in the past were strictly operatic.

Operas in the upcoming festival will include Carmen, Jeanine Kushner's A Blizzard in Marblehead Neck, John Musto's Later the Same Evening.

Glimmerglass' Young American Artists Program will also feature two barihunks that we've previously feature, Michael Krzankowski and Steven LaBrie.

Here is Rod Gilfry singing "My Heart Is So Full Of You" from The Most Happy Fella:



You can email us at barihunks@gmail.com

Another Sexy Tarquinius: Philip Cutlip

We haven't featured barihunk Philip Cutlip in awhile, so it was great to see that he was singing Tarquinius at the Toledo Opera. The underrated Benjamin Britten opera always delivers in the "skin" department, as we've seen from previous posts of Christopher Maltman, Matthew Worth, David Krohn, Michael Krzankowski, Grzegorz Pazik, Nathan Gunn and Phillip Addis.

Here's a shot of Philip Cutlip looking as hot as any Tarquinius in the world today. The Toledo Blade wrote, "As the bad boy Etruscan prince, Tarquinius, Philip Cutlip is menacing and macho."

We hope to see more of Cutlip in this role and we welcome him to the family of sexy barihunks who have taken on Tarquinius. In the meantime, you can see Cutlip perform Ariodate in the Houston Grand Opera production of Xerxes running from April 30 through May 2.

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Tarquinius Challenge

[Photos: Project Opera of Manhattan, © 2008 Ken Howard]

Within hours after posting David Krohn as Tarquinius, this picture of Michael Krzankowski appeared from a former colleague of his in Seattle. This person claims that Krzankowski is hotter than Krohn or Matthew Worth, who we have hailed as the ultimate Tarquinius.

Krzankowski is from Chicago and earned his Master’s degree from the acclaimed Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. He is currently performing Barone Douphol in Glimmerglass Opera’s production of La Traviata. In November, he will return to the Seattle Opera's Young Artist's Program to perform Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte and Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos.

This site can be contacted at barihunks@gmail.com

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