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- Herausgeber: Icon Books
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
Sir Walter Scott's story of a Scottish girl forced by her family into an arranged marriage still resonates today, two centuries after it was published. Donizetti's opera, which premièred in Naples in 1835, is famous particularly for the Mad Scene when Lucia, after leaving for her nuptials, reappears having murdered the man she has just married, the unfortunate Arturo. She truly loves Edgardo, sworn enemy of her family, who turned up moments too late to stop the wedding.The story unfolds in diverse and sensational locations – a fountain haunted by a murdered woman, a ruined tower called The Wolf's Crag, and a graveyard where Edgardo – a part played by both Domingo and Pavarotti – hears of Lucia's death and stabs himself. Immortalised by such stars as Joan Sutherland, the role of Lucia herself provides an immense challenge for even the best of sopranos. Written by Michael Steen, author of the acclaimed The Lives and Times of the Great Composers, 'Short Guides to Great Operas' are concise, entertaining and easy to read books about opera. Each is an opera guide packed with useful information and informed opinion, helping to make you a truly knowledgeable opera-goer, and so maximising your enjoyment of a great musical experience. Other 'Short Guides to Great Operas' that you may enjoy include L'Elisir d'Amore, La Bohème and La Traviata.
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Published in the UK in 2012 by Icon Books Ltd,
Omnibus Business Centre, 29–41 North Road, London N7 9DP
email: [email protected]
www.iconbooks.co.uk
ISBN: 978-1-84831-465-8 (ePub format)
ISBN: 978-1-84831-472-6 (Adobe ebook format)
Text copyright © 2012 Michael Steen
The author has asserted his moral rights.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Typesetting by Marie Doherty
CONTENTS
Title page
Copyright
PREFACE
USING THIS EBOOK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DONIZETTI’S LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
THE OPERA AND ITS COMPOSER
WHO’S WHO AND WHAT’S WHAT
THE INTERVAL: TALKING POINTS
Coloratura and bel canto
The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott
The Mad Scene
The music
ACT BY ACT
Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Sources of quotes
Other sources
NOTES
Short Guides to Great Operas
PREFACE
This guide is aimed at the ordinary opera-goer and opera-lover, usually a busy person who wants to know the essentials of the opera but has little time to grasp them.
It provides key background information to Lucia di Lammermoor, told engagingly by someone who knows the opera intimately.
It is light, easy to read, and entertaining. Relevant information has been carefully selected to enhance your appreciation of Donizetti’s work.
It is authoritative, but not dense or academic. It is unburdened with the clutter that can easily be obtained elsewhere. It concentrates on information that it will help you to know in advance.
Read quickly before going to the opera or listening to it at home, you will get the very best out of the performance and have a truly enjoyable experience.
Opera can be a great social occasion. Being knowledgeable and well-informed, you’ll appreciate this magical art-form much more if you read this first.
I hope you enjoy the opera!
Michael Steen
USING THIS EBOOK
A very quick grasp of the opera can be gained by reading the opening section on ‘The opera and its composer’ and the ensuing ‘Who’s who and what’s what’. Further elaboration may be found in the sections entitled ‘The interval: talking points’ and ‘Act by act’.
The footnotes and boxes are an integral part of the information. The reader is encouraged to go to these by clicking on the links.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Steen OBE studied at the Royal College of Music, was organ scholar at Oriel College, Oxford, and has been chairman of both the RCM Society and the Friends of the V&A Museum. He is a trustee of the Gerald Coke Handel Foundation and Anvil Arts, and Treasurer of The Open University.
DONIZETTI’S LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
A SHORT GUIDE TO A GREAT OPERA
The opera and its composer
Who’s who and what’s what
The interval: talking points
Act by act
THE OPERA AND ITS COMPOSER
Donizetti composed his operas at a frantic pace, at the rate of five a year, and around 70 in all. His L’Elisir d’Amore had been composed in a couple of weeks. He is said to have composed Don Pasquale in eight days, or at any rate in less than a month.It took rather longer to bring Lucia di Lammermoor to the stage – about four months – but that was mainly because the theatre in Naples, the San Carlo, was virtually bankrupt. The Lucia, the ‘incomparable’ Fanny Persiani, one of the greatest sopranos, refused to rehearse until paid; and Donizetti himself almost went on strike.
The première of Lucia di Lammermoor was on 26 September 1835. Donizetti had composed the music as fast as his librettist, Salvatore Cammarano,1 the official ‘poet’ at the San Carlo, could write the words. Donizetti had begun work duringthe previous June. The score was finished on 6 July, but it was not until 20 August that it was finally accepted by the management.
Lucia di Lammermoor is the ‘archetype of Italian Romantic opera’, and it might almost be regarded as an absurd parody, if it were not for the extraordinarily effective and dramatic ‘Mad Scene’, in particular.
The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott
