Lucia De Lammermoor: Mad For Love?

For those of you who don't know what Lucia De Lammermoor is, I will now tell you. Lucia De Lammermoor is an opera by Gaetano Donizetti. It is based on a true story and a particular time in Scottish history.

Rochelle Bard, Vincent Chambers, Isaiah Musik-Ayala,
Krassen Karagiozov, and Katia Hayati. 

The story is rather bizarre. Lucia is in love with a guy named Edgardo. Unfortunately, Edgardo is, like in Romeo and Juliet, the family's enemy. Lucia also has a brother, Enrico, who really needs help in saving the family from destruction. In order to do that, he needs Lucia to marry another man. A man who is in the power to help Enrico save the family. Of course, Lucia wants to do none of this, but Enrico forces her. At the marriage, Edgardo comes. Do you still remember who Edgardo is? He's Lucia's lover. He comes and accuses her of being unfaithful because she gave him her troth before. He gets mad and leaves. Lucia and Arturo, her bridegroom, go into the bedroom and she kills him. She comes out covered in blood and a little bit crazy. Alright, she's very crazy! The next scene is Edgardo mourning his betrayal. Then, he finds out that Lucia is dead and commits suicide. 

Okay, so that's the brief summary of Lucia De Lammermoor. It's a very typical 'operatic' story. This opera is performed all around the world, and last Sunday I went to Lucia in the Palo Alto West Bay Opera. The cast included Rochelle Bard as Lucia, Vincent Chambers as Edgardo, Krassen Karagiozov as Enrico, Isaiah Musik - Ayala as Raimondo, and Katia Hayati as Alisa. I'm very sorry for not telling you who Alisa and Raimondo are. Raimondo is the chaplain who persuades Lucia to yield to her brother. Alisa is her maid. 

Rochelle Bard was an excellent Lucia. Her acting was great, her singing was as well. She wasn't dramatic enough in her singing. Her acting was overshadowing her singing. Other than that, she was great! I personally enjoyed it very much!

Vincent Chambers was a well - put Edgardo. I'm not sure if that means anything to you... He wasn't Franco Corelli, but there's nothing to complain about. I don't even know what to say about his singing. 

Rochelle Bard and Katia Hayati as Lucia and Alisa.

Krassen Karagiozov was, in my opinion, the best of the cast. His Enrico was truly Enrico. Okay, how do I say this normally? I could feel Enrico's character in Krassen's singing and acting. Does that make more sense? 

Iraiah Musik - Ayala and Katia Hayati were perfect Raimondo and Alisa. I actually liked Katia more than Isaiah. She had more feeling involved in her singing. 

Well, if you ever decide to go to the opera and see Lucia - go for it! Don't think twice about it! The opera is definitely worth going to.

Go to The Freako Diva for more operatic posts! If you like opera, of course! 

Written by: Rubina Mazurka