Image: newsroom.unl.edu
The Palm Beach Opera will be performing Lucia di Lammermoor Friday through Sunday at the Kravis Center in Palm Beach. An opera that is known for being every soprano’s dream, Lucia di Lammermoor is a story of love, family, fortune and murder.
Lucia di Lammermoor is a young girl who is convinced by her brother, Enrico, to abandon her lover Edgardo in order to restore the family fortune. However, once Lucia realizes that her brother had tricked her, she murders her unwanted groom and rejoins the wedding party in one of the most famous “made scenes” in opera.
One of the two sopranos who will be singing the lead in Palm Beach Opera’s production, Valentina Farcas, said, “It’s not a role you can just sing perfectly technically. The role demands complete devotion and passion and understanding of the character. Without that, it’s not alive. It’s just empty trills and turns.”
The opera is by Gaetano Donizetti and was debuted in 1835. The Palm Beach Opera’s general director calls it a “masterpiece of the bel canto school of music.” Characterized by purity of tone, a beautiful melody, graceful phrasing and florid embellishments, a bel canto performance is one that is executed with precision.
Farcas said, “Lucia is a role that every soprano dreams of doing.” Each soprano interprets the role of Lucia slightly differently, however, and Farcas said that she will be portraying her as a young girl in love for the first time. “Although she’s passionately devoted to Edgardo, Lucia is astute enough to know that she’s headed for heartache.”
Source: Palm Beach Daily News
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