Lucia di Lammermoor

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L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O
6 | October 15 - November 6, 2016
I have been a devoted admirer of the bel canto repertoire for all of my operagoing life. In introducing the two bel canto operas
on Lyric’s schedule this season, an anecdote comes to mind.
When I was in my early teens, in Harrod’s record department in London, I was wandering around and was suddenly transfixed
by an amazing voice. I knew I’d never heard anything like this. It was Dame Joan Sutherland singing the heroine’s aria from Rossini’s
Semiramide. That performance led me to investigate all the great works of the bel canto repertoire, which remains to this day one
of my greatest enthusiasms in opera.
For that reason, it is a particularly great pleasure for me that Lyric is presenting
Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Bellini’s Norma this season (coincidentally,
two works closely associated with Dame Joan, who had so much to do with shaping
my love of bel canto singing). These are arguably the greatest operas of both of these
composers, each a supreme master of this style. The two operas celebrate the glory of
great singing, uniting extraordinarily memorable melodies with vocal virtuosity within
an intense romantic narrative.
The two heroines are superbly contrasting examples of what makes bel canto
repertoire so exciting. Each requires the ultimate in vocal technique, but also the
ultimate in emotional investment. Lucia is the more lyrical of the two roles. Her
music is crowned by the famous mad scene, one of the great vocal tours de force in
all of opera – a high-wire act of vocal acrobatics and searing emotional impact.
The role of Norma combines the requirement of stupendous vocal agility with
a dramatic grandeur that makes her among the most challenging characters to sing
and act in the entire operatic repertoire.
Of course, these operas are not one-woman shows; each needs an exceptionally
strong team of principal artists to fulfill the vocal and dramatic demands. Lucia ’s
Edgardo is one of bel canto’s most passionate and hot-blooded heroes, while Norma’s
Pollione requires a heroic machismo that makes him unique in this repertoire. Adalgisa
in Norma has much ravishing music to sing (including three of bel canto’s most
rewarding duets), and the powerful dramatic thrust in music for Lucia’s nasty brother
Enrico can raise the roof with excitement. For the two bass roles – Raimondo in Lucia,
Oroveso in Norma – a singer of innate majesty is required.
The two casts are both made up of very important artists, from whom you can expect sensational singing. Our leading ladies –
Albina Shagimuratova (Lucia) and Sondra Radvanovsky (Norma), both previously triumphant at Lyric – have made a stupendous impact
internationally in their roles. The return to Lyric of our Edgardo, Piotr Beczała, and the debuts of our Raimondo, Adrian Sâmpetrean,
and our Pollione, Russell Thomas, are awaited with equal anticipation, as are two remarkable Ryan Opera Center alumni – Quinn Kelsey
(Enrico) and Elizabeth DeShong (Adalgisa) and – and the return of longtime Lyric favorite Andrea Silvestrelli (Oroveso).
Of course, neither of these operas can succeed without brilliance from the pit and from the production team. Our two debuting
Italian conductors, Enrique Mazzola (Lucia) and Riccardo Frizza (Norma), have made bel canto a specialty in many major international
houses. We can fully expect the performances to boast an authenticity of style that will hugely enhance our audiences’ experience of these
pieces. Lyric is presenting them in productions by Graham Vick (Lucia) and Kevin Newbury (Norma) that will each bring provocative
and illuminating new insights to these justly beloved masterpieces.
Anthony Freud
The Women’s Board Endowed Chair
From the General Director
STEVE LEONARD