Donizetti lucia di lammermoor diana damrau biography

Opera by Gaetano Donizetti

Lucia di Lammermoor (Italian pronunciation:[luˈtʃiːadiˈlammermur]) is a dramma tragico (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor.

Donizetti wrote Lucia di Lammermoor in 1835, when he was reaching the peak of his reputation as an opera composer. Gioachino Rossini had recently retired and Vincenzo Bellini had died shortly before the premiere of Lucia leaving Donizetti as "the sole reigning genius of Italian opera". Not only were conditions ripe for Donizetti's success as a composer, but there was also a widespread interest in the history and culture of Scotland. The perceived romance of its violent wars and feuds, as well as its folklore and mythology, intrigued 19th century readers and audiences.Walter Scott dramatized these elements in his novel The Bride of Lammermoor, which inspired several musical works including Lucia.

The story concerns the emotionally fragile Lucy Ashton (Lucia) who is caught in a feud between her own family and that of the Ravenswoods. The setting is the Lammermuir Hills of Scotland (Lammermoor) in the 17th century.

Performance history

19th century

The opera premiered on 26 September 1835 at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. However, John Black notes that "the surprising feature of its subsequent performance history is that it established so slowly in the Neapolitan repertoire", noting that while there were 18 performances in the rest of 1835, there were only four in 1836, 16 in 1837, two in 1838, and continuing in this manner with only two in each of 1847 and 1848.

London saw the opera on 5 April 1838 and, for Paris, Donizetti revised the score for a French version which debuted on 6 August 1839 at the Théâtre d

Diana Damrau (born May 31, 1971 in Günzburg an der Donau, Germany) is a coloratura soprano of the operatic stage.

She began her studies with Carmen Hanganu at the Musikhochschule Würzburg then after graduating from the aforementioned conservatoire, worked in Salzburg with Hanna Ludwig. Her first operatic engagements were in Würzburg and subsequently the Nationaltheater Mannheim and Oper Frankfurt. Since then, she has sung throughout Europe at venues including the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera New York, Covent Garden, the Bavarian State Opera, Munich and the Salzburg Festival. She was invited to sing the title role in Antonio Salieri's 'L'Europa riconosciuta' at the re-opening of La Scala, Milan in 2003, under the baton of Riccardo Muti.

Mozart's Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte) has been Damrau's most frequently performed role to-date, having been engaged to perform it in over 15 productions at houses including Covent Garden, the Salzburg Festival, the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Oper Frankfurt and the Bavarian State Opera, Munich. Other coloratura roles in her repertoire include Konstanze, Blondchen, Zerbinetta, Rosina, Gilda, Norina, Europa, Olympia and Oscar. She also performs roles in the lighter lyric repertoire including Sophie, Adina, Susanna, Zaide, Gretel, Ännchenn, Marzelline, Leïla and Zdenka.

As well as opera, Damrau is a regular on the concert podium having performed Lieder repertoire at Vienna's Musikverein, the Kissinger Summer Festival, the Schubertiade, Schwarzenberg and both the Munich and Salzburg Festivals. The soprano's concert repertoire includes Carl Orff's 'Carmina Burana', Mozart's C minor mass, Requiem and Exsultate, Jubilate as well as Handel's 'Messiah'. She has performed with such esteemed conductors as Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Adam Fischer, Dennis Russel Davies, Leonard Slatkin, Wolf