LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR (DONIZETTI)

The tragedy composed by Donizetti in the summer of 1835 was a landmark in Italian Romantic opera. Lucia Ashton represents the ideal of the period: the impossible union of two lovers, adversity and destiny, the fight between two families that leads to madness and a tragic outcome during the wedding night of a marriage of convenience.

In a touching musical language, the Bergamo maestro brings out the essence of the novel The Bride of Lammemoor, by Sir Walter Scott. The climax comes in the scene of madness, which occurs in the third act. In it, the composer demands accurate technique from the soprano throughout the aria which ends with the unforgettable ‘A me ti dona un Dio’, the great beauty and bitterness of an impossible love.

North American director Christopher Franklin is a specialist in the Italian opera repertoire. After a long professional career and having conducted renowned orchestras in the main international stages, he makes his debut in Ópera de Tenerife. Nicola Berloffa, who was recently awarded “best novel stage manager” at Fórum Ópera sets the piece in 1940s Scotland, in a sombre and sad post-war climate, where everyone must face the consequences of the war and a constant degradation of social and human values.