LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR — Fact Sheet

COMPOSER: Gaetano Donizetti
LIBRETTIST: Salvatore Cammarano

FORT WORTH OPERA DATES / TIMES / LOCATION

Sunday, May 25, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Friday, May 30, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, June 7, 2008 at 8:00 pm
All Performances will be held at Bass Performance Hall, downtown Fort Worth, Texas

CHARACTERS & PRIMARY CAST

Lucia — Elizabeth Futral
Enrico — Michael Todd Simpson
Edgardo — Stephen Costello
Arturo — Christian Reinert
Raimondo — Derek Parker
Normanno — Jonathan Blalock
Alisa — Alissa Anderson

Conductor — Steven White
Director — David Gately

PRODUCTION

Performed in Italian with projected English subtitles.

TICKETS

Season Tickets: Include Lucia di Lammermoor, Turandot and Of Mice and Men. Complimentary vouchers to Angels in America will be included in all Friday, Saturday and Sunday Series packages. Weekend Packages include guaranteed seating to Angels in America. $50-$412 each. Call 817.731.0726, toll-free 1.877.FWOPERA (396-7372) or go online at www.fwopera.org

Single Tickets: $19 - $145. Students & military half-price with ID. Student rush pricing is $10 for any available seat starting 30 minutes prior to curtain with ID. Call 817.731.0726 or toll-free 1.877.FWOPERA (396-7372) or go online at www.fwopera.org.

BACKGROUND

Based on the novel by Sir Walter Scott. While Donizetti was alive, Lucia di Lammermoor was a hit with audiences and critics. Eventually it drifted into being little more than a vehicle for high sopranos to show off their voices. In the early-mid twentieth century, it was resurrected as a work of musical subtlety. Often considered the greatest of the Italian Romantic operas.

STORY

Lord Enrico Ashton has arranged a politically tidy marriage between his sister Lucia and Lord Arturo. He has just become aware of a blossoming romance between his sister and their neighbor, Edgardo, whose family is sworn enemies of the Ashton’s. Enrico shows Lucia a forged letter that speaks of Edgardo’s unfaithfulness. Feeling betrayed and moved to help her family, the emotionally fragile Lucia agrees to marry Arturo. After the wedding ceremony, Edgardo enters and thinking himself betrayed, curses the day he met Lucia. On their wedding night, Lucia emotionally snaps and murders her husband, and later dies. When Edgardo learns the news, he kills himself.