With its powerful plot, glorious music, spectacular mad scene, and Gothic Scottish castle setting, Lucia di Lammermoor is one of the most affecting of all the great operas. Composer Gaetano Donizetti and librettist Salvatore Cammarano used Sir Walter Scott’s 1819 novel The Bride of Lammermoor as the basis for the opera. Its story comes from a true incident—a feud between two families—that took place in the Scottish Lowlands in 1669. Lucia loves Edgar, the son of her father’s enemy, but when her cruel brother deceives her into an arranged marriage she is driven to madness, murder, and death. The sextet when her lover returns just as Lucia has signed the fatal marriage contract is one of the finest pieces of dramatic music in all of opera, and the mad scene is a dazzling tour de force for soprano. The opera is often acclaimed as Donizetti’s finest work and is widely considered to be one of the most exhilarating operas of the 19^th century.
 

(9/8, 9/9, 9/11, 9/20, 9/22 and 9/23 performances)
 

Casting*
 

The Opera San José Orchestra, Chorus and Supers

**Casting subject to change without notice.

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