Organization

Singer

Bass

Henning von Schulman

Raymond Bidebent

Soprano

Liv Redpath

Lucy

Baritone

Ernesto Petti

Lord Henry Ashton

Tenor

Ya-Chung Huang

Lord Arthur Bucklaw

Mezzo-soprano

Arianna Manganello

Alice

Patrick Cook

Norman

Stage director

Filippo Sanjust

Conductor

Christoph Gedschold

Costume designer

Set designer

Chorus master

Thomas Richter

Ioan Hotea

Sir Edgar of Ravenswood

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Orchestra

Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin

Italian

Lucia di Lammermoor -  (Lucia of Lammermoor)

Berlin

Germany

Lucia di Lammermoor Donizetti

Public

Lucia of Lammermoor

German

English

Approved

Lucia di Lammermoor Donizetti6

Enrico wants his sister Lucia to marry the powerful Lord Arturo Bucklaw to save his existence. Lucia, on the other hand, has sworn eternal loyalty to Edgardo Ravenswood, Enrico's mortal enemy, who asserts old rights to his property. With a forged letter accusing Edgardo of infidelity and blaming Lucia for the downfall of the family, Enrico succeeds in persuading Lucia to marry Lord Bucklaw. Edgardo appears at the wedding and curses Lucia. She kills her husband. Edgardo challenges Enrico to a duel. Lucia falls into madness that leads to death. Edgardo stabs himself when he hears the death knell.

Arguably Donizetti's most famous tragic opera is based on Sir Walter Scott's popular 1819 novel, The Bride of Lammermoor. Salvatore Cammarano has taken a radical path in his libretto, not only by neglecting the political premises of the conflict between the Ashtons and Ravenswoods and banishing the entire prehistory to a few hints in the dialogues, but also by reducing the complex web of relationships in the novel to the conflicts between them Enrico Ashton, his sister Lucia and her lover Edgardo.

Director and set designer Filippo Sanjust set the production at the time the work was written (1835). An intermediate curtain with a painted royal blue curtain and a girl wandering in ghostly fluttering robes suggests the romantic theater space. The stage sets are reminiscent of reprints of old books. The black robes, red sashes, white collars, plumes and cuffs of the Scottish men form a colorful contrast to this - and an appropriate setting for one of the main works of Italian bel canto.

It was thanks to Maria Callas that she brought Donizetti's works, which had also been neglected in Italy, to new life. Callas' almost vibrato-free, intimate emotional tone is known from recordings, which, as for many roles in the highly dramatic coloratura genre, also set standards for the interpretation of Lucia.

The actions of the protagonists are determined by extreme passions: on the one hand by Enrico's hatred of Edgardo (Cavatine "Cruda ... funesta smania", Act 1) and of Lucia, who opposes his plans, and on the other hand by Lucia's love for Edgardo (Cavatine " Regna nel silenzio”, Act I). The fact that this love also means Lucia's downfall is masterfully expressed in Donizetti's music: the coloraturas, which describe her being overwhelmed by love in the first act, become signs of her mental confusion in her madness aria at the dramatic climax of the opera.

A second moment of extreme emotional drama is the sextet “Chi mi frena in tal momento” in Act 2. Giacomo Puccini wrote about this sextet: “In one respect we Italians surpass the German composers, namely in our ability to express infinite sadness in the to express the major key. Edgardo and Lucia are in deep despair - so much so that Lucia eventually goes insane and Edgardo commits suicide; and what do we find in the singing voice? sugar plums! Sweet honey! – although Lucia sings: “I am betrayed by heaven and earth! I want to cry, but tears are forbidden to me. Despair consumes my heart.” This sextet is rightly regarded as the most famous operatic ensemble melody ever written. It is a masterpiece of polyphony..."

Lucia of Lammermoor by Donizetti, From (2022/2022), Directed by Filippo Sanjust,, Conductor Christoph Gedschold, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Program, About & Synopsis

Videos

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues