Covent Garden’s latest production of Rossini’s Guillaume Tell offends with “nude rape” scene.

The Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden usually echoes to the sound of applause. However the opening night of the Royal Opera’s new production of Rossini’s Guillaume Tell was marked by a very different noise: boos.

A scene in which a young woman is stripped naked and molested by army officers in Act III of the 1829 opera was so shocking for the audience that it provoked heckling and shouts of disapproval. Italian director Damiano Michielltto’s production, his first for the Royal Opera, features a female actor, who was not part of the singing cast, being forced to drink champagne by army officers, before being molested using a gun, stripped, and pushed aggressively onto a banqueting table.

The production features an impressive cast of opera luminaries, including Canadian baritone Gerald Finley, Swedish soprano Malin Bystrom and American tenor John Osborn, and the vocal performances were warmly received and duly applauded during the curtain call. However the audience reaction to the nude scene was so significant that the ROH’s director of opera Kasper Holten issued a statement of apology for any distress caused.

“The production includes a scene...