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Opulently Staged
Donizetti's 'Lucia di Lammermoor',
reviewed by MARIA NOCKIN
The story of Gaetano Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermoor is taken from Sir Walter Scott's darkly romantic novel set in seventeenth century Scotland, The Bride of Lammermoor. The book was published in 1819 and at that time the author was at the height of his powers, but when asked about his recollections of writing it, he said he remembered nothing, possibly because he had been under the influence of laudanum.
The cast of San Diego Opera's 'Lucia di Lammermoor'. Background (left to right): tenor Bryan Register (Lord Arturo Bucklaw) and bass Reinhard Hagen (Raimondo). Foreground (left to right): tenor Richard Leech (Edgardo), soprano Angela Gilbert (Lucia) and soprano Kathleen Halm (Alisa). Photo © 2006 Ken Howard
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The story, based to some degree on the tale of Janet Dalrymple's forced marriage, had great natural appeal for the opera stage and several compositions based on it preceded the work by Donizetti: Adolphe Adam's Le Caleb de Walter Scott (1827) and Michele Carafa's Le Nozze di Lammermoor (1829) made their débuts in Paris. Luigi Rieschi's La Fidanzata di Lammermoor (1831) appeared in Trieste and Ivar Frederik Bredal's Bruden fra Lammermoor (1832) was seen in Copenhagen.
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Copyright © 26 March 2006
Maria Nockin, Arizona USA
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