Gang rape scene at Covent Garden overshadows opera's famous overture

Gioachino Rossini's opera Guillaume Tell (William Tell) about the Swiss patriot who shoots an arrow that splits an apple atop his son's head is famed for its overture with the galloping horse theme used in The Lone Ranger television series.

Now it will go down in the annals of London's Covent Garden for a new production that was roundly booed by an opening night audience on Monday for a scene of full frontal nudity and gang rape that Rossini could never have imagined when he wrote the work that had its premiere in 1829.

There was plenty of cheering for the singers and musicians as well, but the audience reaction to the sexual assault scene was so strong in Britain's usually decorous premiere opera venue that Kasper Holten, the ROH's director of opera, issued a statement afterwards expressing sorrow for any distress caused.

In the scene, an actress who is not part of the singing cast is manhandled by a group of officers in the Austrian army, which is occupying Switzerland and oppressing the local residents. They force champagne down the woman's throat, fondle her with a gun and, in the bit that caused the most commotion, strip her, molest her and force her to lie on top of the banquet table.

"The production includes a scene which puts the spotlight on the brutal reality of women being abused during war time, and sexual violence being a tragic fact of war," Holten said.

"The production intends to make it an uncomfortable scene, just as there are several upsetting and violent scenes in Rossini's score. We are sorry if some people have found this distressing."