Lucia di Lammermoor

Lucia di Lammermoor is an Italian tragic opera in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1838)[1] and Salvatore Cammarano (1801-1852)[2].

The original text

Based on the famous historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott (published in 1819)[3], the opera was first performed to acclaim on September 26, 1835 at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy.

Performance history in South Africa

1893-4: Performed as Lucia di Lammermoor by Ancarina Massimimi and her Italian Opera Company on tour in South Africa under the auspices of impresario A. Bonamici, possibly in combination with his Lyric Opera Company. The tour included performances in the Opera House, Cape Town.

1961: Presented by the Pretoria Opera Group.

1964: Presented by PACT Opera.

1969: Presented by CAPAB Opera, with Nellie du Toit as Lucia and Gé Korsten as Edgardo, produced by Gregorio Fiasconaro, conducted by Franco Ferraris.

1971: Presented by NAPAC Opera with Nellie du Toit as Lucia and Gé Korsten as Edgardo, produced by James Conrad, conducted by Bryan Balkwill.

1973: Presented by NAPAC Opera with Nellie du Toit as Lucia and Gé Korsten as Edgardo, produced by James Conrad, conducted by Bryan Balkwill; presented by PACOFS Opera, with Nellie du Toit as Lucia and Gé Korsten as Edgardo, produced by James Conrad, conducted by Bryan Balkwill.

1974: Presented by PACT Opera, with Nellie du Toit as Lucia and Gé Korsten as Edgardo, produced by Neels Hansen, conducted by Leo Quayle.

1975: Presented by CAPAB Opera; presented by PACOFS Opera.

1979: Presented by PACT Opera.

1985: Presented by CAPAB Opera (24 August – 9 September)

1997: Presented by CAPAB Opera (17 May – 1 June)

2002: Presented by Cape Town Opera (29 May – 8 June)

2005: Presented by Black Tie Ensemble in the Opera at the State Theatre (21 - 28 September 2005), Conductor: Jeremy Silver; Director: Michael Gieleta; Assistant to the director: Madeleen Engelbrecht; Technical co-ordinator: Vanessa Nicolau; Conceptual design: James Macnamara Design; Original design: Andrew Botha; Costumes co-ordinator: Bronwen Lovegrove; Lighting: Declan Randall; Repetitor: Susan Steenkamp-Swanepoel; Choreographer: Vanessa Nicolau; Stage manager: Rosemary Richter; Props master: Andre Cordes; Fight sequences staged by Rachel Barlow; Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra South Africa; Concert master: Denise Sutton; Chorus: Black Tie Opera Chorus; Chorus master: Mathilda Hornsveld. With the following cast: Rheinaldt Moagi (Normanno), Linda Zitha (Enrico Ashton), Kaiser Nkosi (Raimondo), Zanele Gumede (Alisa), Hanli Stapela (Lucia Ashton), Dewald von Solms (Sir Edgardo di Ravenswood), Khotso Tsekeletsa (Arturo Bucklaw).

2010: Presented by Cape Town Opera (16–27 October)

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucia_di_Lammermoor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaetano_Donizetti

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvadore_Cammarano

D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p.401

Wayne Muller. 2018. A reception history of opera in Cape Town: Tracing the development of a distinctly South African operatic aesthetic (1985–2015). Unpublished PhD thesis.

Alexandra Xenia Sabina Mossolow. 2003. The career of South African soprano Nellie du Toit, born 1929. Unpublished Masters thesis. University of Stellenbosch.

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