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Lucia di Lammermoor, the most famous and popular of Donizetti's operas, was first performed on September 26, 1835, at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. The opera was based on the novel The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott. A Gothic novel with elements of historical realism, it enjoyed great success. According to Ellen H. Bleiler in the introduction to her translation of Lucia in the Dover Opera Guide and Libretto Series, the novel had become one of the best-known works of fiction in Western Europe by the time that Donizetti and his librettist Cammarano began to work with it. Cammarano and Donizetti simplified the story greatly and eliminated much of the novel's detail. In the opera, the Ravenswood family has been dispossessed of their ancestral land. The Ashton family has taken their place. Lucia Ashton and her family's enemy Edgardo di Ravenswood have fallen in love with each other. Lucia's brother Enrico wants her to marry a powerful lord, Arturo Bcklaw. Enrico deceives Lucia with forged evidence of Edgardo's unfaithfulness to her. Lucia reluctantly signs a marriage contract with Arturo. Just as she has done so, Edgardo enters and expresses his outrage. The marriage between Lucia and Arturo takes place. On the wedding night, Lucia, who has lost her somewhat fragile sanity, stabs Arturo in the bridal chamber. She then enters the hall where the wedding guests are assembled and sings what is probably the most famous mad scene in all opera. She collapses and later dies. When Edgardo learns of her death, he stabs himself and dies. RECORDINGS OF LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR Maria Callas made two studio recordings of Lucia, both available on EMI. Also available are various recordings of her live performances. The best, also available on EMI, is of a performance in Berlin in 1955 conducted by Herbert von Karajan, with Giuseppe di Stefano as Edgardo. Callas's Berlin Lucia on EMI compact discs, amazon.co.uk
The 1953 studio recording, Donizetti - LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR (Naxos 8110131-32) with Maria Callas,
Giuseppe Di Stefano, Tito Gobbi, Raffaele Arie, Valiano Natali, Anna
Maria Canali, Gino Sarri, Chorus and Orchestra of Maggio Musicale
Fiorentino conducted by Tullio Serafin, has been re-issued on compact disc by Naxos as a new transfer of the 1953
recording from the best parts of five LP copies. Without the
slightly flat pitch of the EMI CD version. Callas's recordings were made with what at the time were the "traditional cuts." Later recordings were more or less complete. Joan Sutherland's 1961 recording conducted by John Pritchard, is now available at a low price, but without a libretto. She produced a beautiful sound, but without the dramatic expressivity of Callas. In her 1971 recording for Decca/London, conducted by Richard Bonynge, and with Luciano Pavarotti as Edgardo, Sutherland's voice remains beautiful but exhibits a bit more dramatic characterization. Beverly Sills' recording of Lucia di Lammermoor with Carlo Bergonzi, conducted by Thomas Schippers, was released on compact disc on March 12, 2002
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