Benjamin Britten’s two-act chamber opera, The Rape of Lucretia, starts with an unforgivable crime and a hollow prayer. First performed in 1946, it was a taut and intimate telling of the Roman tale. Now, in a co-production with Victorian Opera, the Sydney Chamber Opera present this pioneering and tragic work to Sydney audiences for the first time this century. Conducted by SCO Artistic Director Jack Symonds, the production stars Mezzo Soprano Anna Dowsley in the title role of Lucretia, whose violation at the hands of the tyrant Tarquinius highlights the depravity of humanity. Presented by Carriageworks and Sydney Chamber Opera.