Abstract
The world premiere of Lucia in 1835 was one of the greatest triumphs the Neapolitan theater has ever experienced and remains a sensation to this day. Its lasting popularity is in part thanks to Lucia’s famous mad scene, one of the most moving operatic scenes of all time, which doubles as a vocal and dramatic tour de force for the singer in the title role. Returning for the revival of this production by Tatjana Gürbaca is American soprano Lisette Oropesa Lucia. She has already thrilled audiences as Lucia at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London and at the Teatro Real in Madrid. Appearing as her lover beloved is Benjamin Bernheim, whose international career started in the Oper Studio of the Oper Zürich. Conductor Andrea Sanguineti, who debuted in Zurich leading the VerdiGala 2020, will lead the Philharmonia Zürich.
«Love, destruction-laden love, without which opera remains cold»: this was the stuff that Donizetti demanded of material for an opera – and it was what he got in spades from Sir Walter Scott’s novel The Bride of Lammermoor. Lucia has fallen in love with Edgardo, the mortal enemy of her brother Enrico. Edgardo is willing to disregard the longstanding hatred between the two families, but Enrico is enraged when he hears of his sister’s love for Edgardo. Secretly, Enrico has arranged to marry Lucia off to the wealthy Arturo Bucklaw, hoping to rescue his own debt-laden finances in the process. But she is ultimately broken by her unrequited love. As if possessed, she becomes a murderess, and only her own death is left as an escape.