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.

Translations and adaptations

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)

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 Unpublished PhD thesis.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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