Til death us do part
For the first time in over 30 years and for only the second time in the company’s history, State Opera South Australia presents Donizetti’s iconic Lucia di Lammermoor – grand opera at its most glorious.
THE WORK
Gaetano Donizetti wrote Lucia di Lammermoor in 1835 when he was reaching the peak of his career as an opera composer.
The opera is loosely based on the novel The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott, the story of which is based on the scandalous Dalmryple family and set amongst the moody Scottish moors.
In the 19th century, there was widespread interest in the history and culture of Scotland. A perceived romance of its violent wars and feuds, folklore and mythology had readers and audiences intrigued by the enigmatic, misty culture of the highlands.
Written in less than 6 weeks with librettist Salvadore Cammarano, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor is a tragic, gothic opera sung in Italian. It was first performed on September 26, 1835, at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Often performed in three acts, the story captivated enthralled audiences from the get-go with its scandal, intrigue and famous ‘mad scene’.
Lucia is the role which made Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland a legend of the opera world. Her performance at Covent Garden in 1959 made her an overnight superstar, with rave reviews and a rapturous audience response. Her version of the mad scene in the third act, an extraordinary technical challenge and showpiece, is now renowned as one of the best operatic turns in history. Dame Joan became so synonymous with Lucia that she sung the role for another three decades.
THE COMPOSER
Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) was born in Bergamo, Italy. From a young age he received extensive music training with scholarships and places at renowned music schools such as the Bologna Academy. He wrote his first opera Il Pigmalione aged 19. As well as Lucia di Lammermoor, he wrote around 70 operas in his lifetime including L’elisir d’amore, La fille du regiment and Don Pasquale.
In the mid-19th century, Donizetti was considered the reigning genius of bel canto Italian opera. Gioachino Rossini (The Barber of Seville) had recently retired and Vincenzo Bellini (La sonnambula) had died shortly before the premiere of Lucia. Donizetti was a likely influence on other composers such as Verdi and Puccini.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE DRAMA
! SPOILER ALERT !
One of the stereotypes which comes to mind when many people think of opera is a lady running around the stage in a blood-stained nightgown, having gone mad and killing her husband on their wedding night. That lady is Lucia.
Donizetti and Cammarano, in his first outing as a librettist, did an excellent job of taking Scott’s Scottish tale and transforming it seamlessly to Italian bel canto opera. One of the most interesting quirks they achieved was translating the English story, including the character’s names, into Italian to help the singers glide between vowels.
Lucia di Lammermoor (or Lucy of Lammermuir) has all the drama you would expect of an opera classic.
Set in the hills of Scotland in the 17th century, the story concerns Lucia (Lucy) Ashton. Emotionally fragile after her mother’s recent death, she is caught in a feud between her family and the Ravenswoods.
Lucy is in love with Edgardo (Edgar) Ravenswood, her family’s sworn enemy. But her brother Enrico (Henry), determined to secure the Ashton family’s future, tricks her into believing Edgar is in love with another woman and manipulates her into marrying wealthy Arturo (Arthur) Bucklaw.
Needless to say, that plan doesn’t end well. Lucia descends into a state of confusion and madness. She is driven to insanity, condemns Enrico for his cruelty and, in one of the most famous mad scenes of the opera repertoire, enacts her revenge by murdering Arturo on their wedding night.
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
Lucia (Emma Pearson) a noblewoman of the Ashton household
Enrico (Morgan Pearse) Lucia’s brother, head of the Ashton household
Edgardo (Alok Kumar) of the Ravenswood family, Lucia’s beloved
Raimondo (Pelham Andrews) the Ashton’s chaplain and tutor
Arturo (Iain Henderson) Enrico’s husband of choice for Lucia
Alisa (Samantha Rubenhold) Lucia’s maid and confidante
Normanno (Jiacheng Ding) Captain of the castle guard
WHAT ARE THE THEMES?
Despite all the madness and murder, Lucia di Lammermoor is a love story (yes it is). There are several types of love portrayed throughout the opera including one true love, familial love and loyalty, and forbidden love.
Lucia also tackles deeper issues including emotional abuse and mental health. Enrico’s constant manipulation and gaslighting of Lucia, along with her grief after their mother’s death, ultimately pushes her to her wits end. Diagnosis of her condition might include depression, schizophrenia and even hysteria.
State Opera’s revival of John Copley’s production, led by Revival Director Laura Hansford, Conductor Lucía Marín and principal soprano Emma Pearson, brings to the stage a woman’s story told by women.
THE MUSIC
Lucia di Lammermoor is a bel canto beauty, loaded with exquisite music and singing.
Bel canto means beautiful singing. The style came to prominence at the time of Donizetti’s writing. It lives and dies by the quality of the singing and how the human voice can be trained to soar over the orchestra in long, unbroken even lines. Lucia requires excellent principal singers to capture the magic of the score and enthral the audience with the story, creating an incredible connection to the drama and characters.
Donizetti employed many musical tricks to bring dramatic and melodic delight to the score. The orchestra makes itself known by enhancing the story – a sombre opening suggests mist-covered hills and the imminent doom of the two lovers; a harp accompanying Lucia’s first entrance demonstrates purity and the butterflies of true love; and flute obbligato echoes Lucia’s descent into madness.
But the musical highlight of Lucia is undoubtedly the famous mad scene in Act III (cue blood-stained nightgown).
It begins with ‘Il dolce suono’ (’The sweet sound’) sung by Lucia as she descends from her bed chamber into the wedding party having murdered Arturo. The madness has well and truly kicked in as she describes hearing Edgardo’s voice, even though he is nowhere to be seen. Donizetti drills home the drama and sorrow even more by reprising chords from Lucia and Edgardo’s Act I love duet.
We are then taken into ‘Spargi d’amaro pianto’ (‘Sprinkle with bitter tears’) a cabaletta full of coloratura depicting mood swings and Lucia’s vulnerable mental state. The entire mad scene lasts around 20 minutes, and requires the highest level of musicality, technique, stamina and performance throughout. At the end of it all, Lucia finally succumbs to her illness and dies. It truly is a showstopper.
But let’s not forget poor Edgardo. By the end, not only has he lost Lucia but he has to follow her mad scene with his own death aria. ‘Fra poco a me ricovero’ (‘I’ll be recovered soon’) sees Edgardo waiting to duel Enrico in the Ravenswood graveyard. However, after learning of Lucia’s death from partygoers leaving the wedding, he resigns himself to his fate, plunging a dagger deep into his broken heart.
The sextet in Act II, ‘Chi mi frena in tal momento’ (‘Who is stopping me in that moment’) sees the characters Lucia, Enrico, Edgardo, Raimondo, Alisa and Normanno combine in a tour de force sextet as intentions, obligations and feuds come to a head. Like all great act ending numbers, this is a feat of voices weaving in out of each other’s melodies depicting confusion, conflicting motivations and a dramatic climax to take the audience into interval.
Production images by James Rogers from West Australian Opera’s 2018 season of Lucia di Lammermoor
