On Friday, October 26 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, October 28 at 3 p.m. in the Mead Theatre of the Schuster Center, Dayton Opera will present Gaetano Donizetti’s chilling tragedy Lucia di Lammermoor performed in Italian with English surtitles. The opera kicks off the passionate 2012-2013 Occupy Opera Season.
In this opera based on a novel by Sir Walter Scott, madness – or at the very least confusion – is running rampant. For starters, although all the characters are Scottish, their first names are Italian and — like TV’s “Mad Men” — men rule the day and women are pawns as marriages are arranged to create powerful family alliances. Obviously there’s no eHarmony, not even Match.com!
Here’s the drill: Enrico Ashton of Lammermoor has plans for his sister, Lucia, to marry Arturo Bucklaw. But she only has eyes for Edgardo, a hunter who rescued her from a mad bull, even though a ghostly maiden has warned her that loving Edgardo will only end in tragedy. To trick her into marrying Arturo, Lucia’s brother hands her a forged letter from Edgardo maintaining that he loves another woman. Near suicidal, Lucia nonetheless consents to marrying Arturo. At the wedding ceremony Edgardo suddenly bursts in, sees Lucia’s signature on the marriage contract, tears his ring from her finger, curses her, and runs out. In a word, he’s mad!
So, what’s a girl to do? You guessed it. Now completely bonkers, Lucia stabs and kills her husband on their wedding bed and returns to the wedding party blood-spattered and not realizing what she’s done (talk about killing a party). Then in one of the most famous and hair-raising mad scenes in the history of theatre, Lucia, in a dream-like state, recalls her first meeting with Edgardo as if he’s the one that she’s married. Having reached her limit she collapses to the floor dead and, to make things worse, when Edgardo learns she’s dead, he kills himself. Talk about messy breakups!
All kidding aside, the suspense, tension, and sheer terror in this opera is palpable, but above all the music is absolutely magnificent!
“It takes truly talented singing artists to recreate the masterful music of Donizetti’s demanding score, and that’s what we have in our Dayton Opera cast,” explained Dayton Opera Artistic Director Thomas Bankston. “We are excited to have company debuts in three of the leading roles of this production, soprano Angela Mortellaro as Lucia, tenor Joshua Kohl as Edgardo, and baritone Lee Poulos as Enrico. Returning to Dayton Opera in the role of Raimondo is bass Matthew Burns.”
Dayton Opera favorites Kathleen Clawson, stage director, and Joseph Mechavich, conductor, who collaborated on last season’s La Bohème, return to lend their talented direction.
There are several opportunities to learn all the “scoop” about Lucia di Lammermoor! Back by popular demand, Art & Arias returns to Dayton Art Institute, 456 Belmonte Park North on Sunday Oct. 21 at 2:00 pm. This lively hour-long look at opera and art features musical performances and insight into how the visual arts relate to this production. Art & Arias is free and open to the public.
Also, the free and informative Opera Overture presentations, with the humorous opera aficionado and University of Dayton professor Dr. Sam Dorf, will be held on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012 at 5 p.m. at Books & Co. at The Greene and Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012 at 7 p.m. at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 3211 Lakeview Ave., Dayton.
In its third year, the Mid-Day Arts Café series continues, highlighting the professional arts organizations in the Dayton area. On Tuesday, Oct. 23, Bankston, Clawson and Mechavich will provide interesting insights into the upcoming production and the rest of the Dayton Opera season. Tickets are $12 and include a box lunch provided by Citilites Restaurant & Bar. Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m. and the presentation starts promptly at noon.
Enjoy pre-performance entertainment and food-by-the-bite and beverages on sale in the Wintergarden beginning one-hour prior to the performance. For ticket holders, a 20-minute “Opera Preview” with Dr. Dorf is also offered one hour prior to both performances.
Tickets range from $36 to $92 and are available at Ticket Center Stage (937) 228-3630 or online at www.daytonopera.org. Friday Nite $15 Tweet Seats, which allows muted mobile devices during the performance and is sponsored by DP&L, are also available. Senior, teacher and student discounts are available at box office. Attendees are invited to attend the cast party following Friday’s performance at the Dayton Racquet Club.
Leadership Sponsors for Lucia di Lammermoor are Miriam Rosenthal Memorial Trust Fund, Caryl D. Philips and Emerson Climate Technologies, Inc. Entrepreneurship Circle Sponsors are Vectren and Dayton Marriott. Orchestral Music Sponsor is The Jesse Philips Opera Fund of The Dayton Foundation.
Dayton Most Metro Ticket Contest
We have TWO PAIRS OF TICKETS to give away for the Friday Oct. 26 show – simply fill out the form below and then leave a comment saying that YOU want to win tickets to see Dayton Opera’s Lucia Di Lammermoor. We’ll announce winners on Friday 10/19 after 4pm.
PLUS – next week we’ll give away a pair of Tweet Seats (Friday Oct. 26 show) each day (Monday through Friday) on our Twitter page – after you’ve filled out the form, tweet the link to this article with the hashtag #TWEETSEATS. We will direct-message winners. GOOD LUCK!
CONTEST CLOSED
Congratulations to our winners:
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