Lucia di Lammermoor

by Gaetano Donizetti

Opernhaus Zürich https://www.opernhaus.ch

Zurich, Switzerland
  • April 2008
    13
    Sunday
    20:00 > 23:00
    3 hours
  • April 2008
    16
    Wednesday
    20:00 > 23:00
    3 hours
Find out more about the Cast , the Composition , the Composer

Lucia di Lammermoor

Cast

Press & Reviews

Il corriere musicale
Attilio Piovano
Lucia at Regio di Torino according to Michieletto
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro Regio.
The premiere, Wednesday May 11, 2016, starred soprano Jessica Pratt whom I remembered as a luxury interpreter of an unforgettable production of Händel's Giulio Cesare last season. A unique singer in a class of her own, Pratt has an important voice and remarkable acting skills; consequently hers was a real undisputed triumph. Above all, she convinced every member of the audience, down to the last one, in the 'Mad Scene', keeping everyone with bated breath and engaging in a duet not with the traditional flute but (according to the composer's original intentions) with the glass harmonica and its arcane, evocative and enchanting sound producing a strong emotional impact. And in this scene, when she began 'Spargi d'amaro pianto', or better even before in 'Ardon gli incensi', Pratt rose the the greatest height, offering a high-level interpretation.
Daily Review
Jason Whittaker
Lucia di Lammermoor review (Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne)
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Victorian Opera.
This is Usain Bolt in the Olympic final. Cristiano Ronaldo at the World Cup. The greatest athlete on the biggest stage. ... They say nobody in the world sings the maddening title role in Lucia Di Lammermoor — perhaps the most treacherous test composed for a coloratura soprano — better than Jessica Pratt. They used to say the same thing about another Aussie, Joan Sutherland, in the 1960s. ... The moment of ecstasy is thrilling — the famed final-act “mad scene” (aria Il dolce suono) where a bloodied Lucia stumbles down a grand staircase, fresh from murdering her unwanted hubby, in a love-sick hallucination conjuring her star-crossed lover. Pratt is beguiling, her instrument as vivid as we’ve heard on Australian stages. It’s the combination of power and poise in her voice, toying with the score as much as the audience, drawing you in with a delicate trill and pushing you back in your seat with an unfathomably sustained note of spine-tingling vibrato.
Classic Melbourne
Heater Leviston
Victorian Opera: Lucia di Lammermoor
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Victorian Opera.
..and Jessica Pratt is certainly one of these [Best Singers]. Despite having to contend with the expectations raised by the hype surrounding her as the successor to Melba and Dame Joan, she still amazes. With limited opportunity to warm up, her ability to sustain a smooth legato line in Lucia’s initial aria, “Regnava nel silenzio”, was truly impressive. Although she has the art of soft singing honed to pinpoint perfection, her voice has substance and was always audible, including in the weightier ensembles such as the famous sextet at the end of Act 2. Her skill in floating her voice in long, high pianissimo phrases was most striking in the Mad Scene, where she was accompanied by a haunting, otherworldly glass harmonica. Pratt’s flexibility and wide range produced streams of impressive bravura and stratospheric top notes, generally without apparent effort.

Operaclick
Marilisa Lazzari
Genova - Teatro Carlo Felice: Lucia di Lammermoor
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro Carlo Felice.
Not available in English
La cantante australiana, padrona di un’ottima dizione, gioca con la voce dal bel colore luminoso, sgranando a comando rosari di agilità, acuti e sovracuti lucenti ed esibendo fiati lunghissimi; insomma, dimostrando che le doti non comuni, da fuoriclasse, sono sostenute da una gran tecnica.
Herald Sun
Paul Selar
Jessica Pratt gives outstanding performance in Lucia di Lammermoor for Victorian Opera
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Victorian Opera.
During its intoxicating 20 minutes, Pratt channels the pitiable tragedienne in a hypnotic performance without excessive histrionics and meets the vocal and dramatic demands with an unflinching, focussed performance. It’s a powerful and near-distressing experience as the silenced chorus and audience remain transfixed by Pratt’s incisive interpretation and striking coloratura soprano. Broad in range and sumptuous in tone, Pratt melds music, text and emotion exquisitely as she glides to delicate crystalline highs and effortlessly projects the finest pianissimo.
Sydney Morning Herald
Michael Shmith
Lucia Di Lammermoor review: Jessica Pratt ascends vocal stratosphere
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Victorian Opera.
...she produced some remarkable singing: as Pratt's Lucia descended into the delusional, her technique ascended into the vocal stratosphere with some gloriously florid singing. No more so, than in her eerie duet with (as originally composed) glass-harmonica obbligato, which is the aural equivalent of being stabbed with a dagger fashioned not from steel but ice.

L'Opera
Alessandro Mormile
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro Regio.
The honor of the premiere fell on Jessica Pratt, who confirmed herself to be a Lucia of undeniable high quality. (…) a Mad Scene where the cadenza possesses an instrument – like clean sound which, with the complicity of the glass harmonica, gives her across the line winning virtuosismo an evocative estrangement effect
La Stampa
Giorgio Pestelli
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro Regio.
the 'Mad Scene', because here Jessica Pratt displays the sharpest arrows in her quiver, her high register and the diminuendos in pianissimo, of which she is a true specialist
La Repubblica
Angelo Foletto
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro Regio.
Jessica Pratt's dauntless and brilliant performance in the title role

The Composition

Lucia di Lammermoor

Libretto written in italian by Salvadore Cammarano, was first premiered on a Saturday on September 26 of 1835
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico (tragic opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor. Donizetti wrote Lucia di Lammermoor in 1835, a time when several factors led to the height of his reputation as a composer of opera. Gioachino Rossini had recently retired and Vincenzo Bellini had died shortly before the premiere of Lucia leaving Donizetti as "the sole reigning genius of Italian opera". Not only were conditions ripe for Donizetti's success as a composer, but there was also a European interest in the history and culture of Scotland. The perceived romance of its violent wars and feuds, as well as its folklore and mythology, intrigued 19th century readers and audiences. Sir Walter Scott made use of these stereotypes in his novel The Bride of Lammermoor, which inspired several musical works including Lucia. The story concerns the emotionally fragile Lucy Ashton (Lucia) who is caught in a feud between her own family and that of the Ravenswoods. The setting is the Lammermuir Hills of Scotland (Lammermoor) in the 17th century.
Jessica has already performed in this opera for:
Synopsis
Time: Early 18th century Place: Scotland ACT 1 Scene 1: The gardens of Lammermoor Castle Normanno, captain of the castle guard, and other retainers are searching for an intruder. He tells Enrico that he believes that the man is Edgardo, and that he comes to the castle to meet Enrico's sister, Lucia. It is confirmed that Edgardo is indeed the intruder. Enrico reaffirms his hatred for the Ravenswood family and his determination to end the relationship. Scene 2: By a fountain at the entrance to the park, beside the castle Lucia waits for Edgardo. In her famous aria "Regnava nel silenzio", Lucia tells her maid Alisa that she has seen the ghost of a girl killed on the very same spot by a jealous Ravenswood ancestor. Alisa tells Lucia that the apparition is a warning and that she must give up her love for Edgardo. Edgardo enters; for political reasons, he must leave immediately for France. He hopes to make his peace with Enrico and marry Lucia. Lucia tells him this is impossible, and instead they take a sworn vow of marriage and exchange rings. Edgardo leaves. ACT 2 Scene 1: Lord Ashton's apartments in Lammermoor Castle Preparations have been made for the imminent wedding of Lucia to Arturo. Enrico worries about whether Lucia will really submit to the wedding. He shows his sister a forged letter seemingly proving that Edgardo has forgotten her and taken a new lover. Enrico leaves Lucia to further persuasion this time by Raimondo, Lucia's chaplain and tutor, that she should renounce her vow to Edgardo, for the good of the family, and marry Arturo. Scene 2: A hall in the castle Arturo arrives for the marriage. Lucia acts strangely, but Enrico explains that this is due to the death of her mother. Arturo signs the marriage contract, followed reluctantly by Lucia. At that point Edgardo suddenly appears in the hall. Raimondo prevents a fight, but he shows Lucia's signature on the marriage contract to Edgardo. He curses her, demanding that they return their rings to each other. He tramples his ring on the ground, before being forced out of the castle. ACT 3 Scene 1: The Wolf's Crag Enrico visits Edgardo to challenge him to a duel. He tells him that Lucia is already enjoying her bridal bed. Edgardo agrees to fight him. They will meet later by the graveyard of the Ravenswoods, near the Wolf's Crag. Scene 2: A Hall in Lammermoor Castle Raimondo interrupts the marriage celebrations to tell the guests that Lucia has gone mad and killed her bridegroom Arturo. Lucia enters. In the aria "Il dolce suono" she imagines being with Edgardo, soon to be happily married. Enrico enters and at first threatens Lucia but later softens when he realizes her condition. Lucia collapses. Raimondo blames Normanno for precipitating the whole tragedy. Scene 3: The graveyard of the Ravenswood family Edgardo is resolved to kill himself on Enrico's sword. He learns that Lucia is dying and then Raimondo comes to tell him that she has already died. Edgardo stabs himself with a dagger, hoping to be reunited with Lucia in heaven.

Gaetano Donizetti

Short biography of the composer
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, was a leading composer of the bel canto opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century. Born in Bergamo in Lombardy, was taken, at an early age, under the wing of composer Simon Mayr who had enrolled him by means of a full scholarship. Mayr was also instrumental in obtaining a place for the young man at the Bologna Academy, where, at the age of 19, he wrote his first one-act opera, the comedy Il Pigmalione. Over the course of his career, Donizetti wrote almost 70 operas. An offer in 1822 from Domenico Barbaja, the impresario of the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, which followed the composer's ninth opera, led to his move to that city and his residency there which lasted until the production of Caterina Cornaro in January 1844. In all, Naples presented 51 of Donizetti's operas. Before 1830, success came primarily with his comic operas, the serious ones failing to attract significant audiences. However, his first notable success came with an opera seria, Zoraida di Granata, which was presented in 1822 in Rome. In 1830, when Anna Bolena was premiered, Donizetti made a major impact on the Italian and international opera scene and this shifted the balance of success away from primarily comedic operas, although even after that date, his best-known works included comedies such as L'elisir d'amore (1832) and Don Pasquale (1843). Significant historical dramas did appear and became successful; they included Lucia di Lammermoor (the first to have a libretto written by Salvatore Cammarano) given in Naples in 1835, and one of the most successful Neapolitan operas, Roberto Devereux in 1837. Up to that point, all of his operas had been set to Italian libretti. Donizetti found himself increasingly chafing against the censorial limitations which existed in Italy (and especially in Naples). From about 1836, he became interested in working in Paris, where he saw much greater freedom to choose subject matter, in addition to receiving larger fees and greater prestige. From 1838 onward, with an offer from the Paris Opéra for two new works, he spent a considerable period of the following ten years in that city, and set several operas to French texts as well as overseeing staging of his Italian works. The first opera was a French version of the then-unperformed Poliuto which, in April 1840, was revised to become Les martyrs. Two new operas were also given in Paris at that time. As the 1840s progressed, Donizetti moved regularly between Naples, Rome, Paris, and Vienna continuing to compose and stage his own operas as well as those of other composers. But from around 1843, severe illness began to take hold and to limit his activities. Eventually, by early 1846 he was obliged to be confined to an institution for the mentally ill and, by late 1847, friends had him moved back to Bergamo, where he died in April 1848.

General Management

Ariosi Management

Alessandro Ariosi

Press and Public Relations

Fidelio Artists

Ph. +34 616 76 08 66
info@fidelioartist.com