If Opera: Lucia di Lammermoor

Gaetano Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor

Director Thomas Guthrie
Conductor Oliver Gooch
Designer Ruth Paton

With the Bristol Ensemble and If Opera chorus
Orchestral reduction supplied by Pocket Publications

Sung in Italian with English surtitles

Libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on Sir Walter Scott’s novel The Bride of Lammermoor
First performed 26th September 1835 at Teatro di San Carlo, Naples

Madly in love…

One of the most revered of 19th century operas, Lucia di Lammermoor follows the fortunes of Lucia (Lucy Ashton) sister of the Lord of Lammermoor, and the enmity they have for the Ravenswood family. Lucia is in love with Edgardo of the Ravenswoods, but her brother Enrico, has other plans for her matrimony.

The opera is a gothic thriller, complete with ghostly apparitions, duels and acts of revenge. But it has become most famous for the elongated, so-called ‘mad scene’ in which Lucia, having murdered her imposed husband Arturo, embarks on one of the most challenging and thrilling arias in the entire repertoire, ‘Il dolce suono’.

To project the power of this opera and Donizetti’s beautiful music to full advantage, we have reconfigured the seating so that the audience surrounds the stage and the opera is directed as an ‘in the round’ performance. This creates real proximity with the performance and an immersive experience for this most thrilling of dramas, particularly for the front row seats surrounding the stage.

With a stellar cast directed by Thomas Guthrie, an innovative and award-winning British director, and conducted by Oliver Gooch, Lucia di Lammermoor is the magnificent centrepiece of the If Opera 2024 season.

Tickets
£20.00 – £115.00 Members
£20.00 – £120.00 Non-members

Tickets on sale now at Bath Box Office online or by phone on 01225 463 362

Children aged 12+ are welcome & under 18s go free (limited availability, please enquire at Bath Box Office)

No dogs are permitted, except for assistance dogs