Lucia di Lammermoor at ROH

[verismissimo]

Times were when Covent Garden only mounted Lucia di Lammermoor with a spectacularly good Lucia: Patti, Orgeni, Di Murska, Nilsson, Albani, Sembrich, Melba, Pacini, Kurz, Tetrazzini, Dal Monte, Bronhill, Sutherland... True divas all!

An ad in today's Sunday Times for the new production in April, CG features the conductor and director only... Not a singer in sight.

[Pulcinella]

Times were when Covent Garden only mounted Lucia di Lammermoor with a spectacularly good Lucia: Patti, Orgeni, Di Murska, Nilsson, Albani, Sembrich, Melba, Pacini, Kurz, Tetrazzini, Dal Monte, Bronhill, Sutherland... True divas all!

An ad in today's Sunday Times for the new production in April, CG features the conductor and director only... Not a singer in sight.

Think yourself lucky there's not a picture of the Radio 3 presenter (assuming that it gets broadcast) to make up for it!

[french frank]

An ad in today's Sunday Times for the new production in April, CG features the conductor and director only... Not a singer in sight.

Maybe they should sack their marketing dept?

[gurnemanz]

Very odd. I would have thought that both Diana Damrau and Aleksandra Kurzak (who we are booked to see on 19 May) are well up there with the other names mentioned.

[Richard Tarleton]

Extraordinary.

I see here it's Diana Damrau and Aleksandra Kurzak alternating. DD featured in Pappano's prog on sopranos, clearly a favourite?

When I saw it at ROH in 1973 (cond. Bonynge, dir. Zeffirelli ) my seat in the stalls cost £5 in old money. One for "Things that time forgot"?

[jean]

It doesn't have to be big names. At Buxton last year:

...all you need for Lucia is a cast of excellent singers as your principals, and the music will do the rest. And here they had them: Welsh soprano Elin Pritchard puts her all into Lucia, with unflagging power...

[verismissimo]

It doesn't have to be big names... ]

Ah yes indeed. But no names?

[Flosshilde]

I see they've issued a 'sex & violence' warning. And the poster on the London Underground has a photograph of a bath.

[makropulos]

I see they've issued a 'sex & violence' warning. And the poster on the London Underground has a photograph of a bath.

Was anyone at the Insights event with Katie Mitchell? I wasn't, but I gather the discussion after the filming ended was lively, and apparently quite revealing of the director's attitude to audiences. It would be fascinating to hear from somebody who was there.

[underthecountertenor]

Was anyone at the Insights event with Katie Mitchell? I wasn't, but I gather the discussion after the filming ended was lively, and apparently quite revealing of the director's attitude to audiences. It would be fascinating to hear from somebody who was there.

Here's the email I received. It includes a link to a video of the Insights event, which I haven't yet watched but will try to find time for.

"I am writing to you as our records show you have booked tickets for The Royal Opera’s new production of Lucia di Lammermoor, staged by one of the UK’s most acclaimed directors, Katie Mitchell.

Katie and her team have set the production around the time of the opera’s creation in the 19th century, and they use this as a platform to explore deeply all the aspects of human relationships in the story – sexual, emotional, physical and psychological. As Katie observes of the famous ending, ‘after all if on your wedding night you took a sharp implement and tried to kill a very strong man, and it went horribly wrong… We’re going to see all of that’.

The rehearsals have had a terrific start with a strong sense of excitement coming from the rehearsal room. But as they have progressed it has also become clear to us that the team's approach will lead to scenes that feature sexual acts portrayed on stage, and other scenes that – as you might expect from the story of Lucia – feature violence. As a result, we have recently updated our website with a message about this. As you have already booked, we wanted to draw your attention to it. If there are any members of your party who you feel may be upset by such scenes then please email us at onlinebooking@roh.org.uk and we will, of course, discuss suitable arrangements.

If you want to learn more about the thoughts behind the production, I would like to draw your attention to an article from our magazine for the Friends of Covent Garden. Opera journalist Warwick Thompson interviewed director Katie Mitchell, who articulated very clearly her approach to this dramatic opera featuring madness, violence and death.

Katie Mitchell also discussed her new production with her designer Vicki Mortimer at our live streamed Insight event on 10 March, at which Richard Hetherington (assistant conductor for Lucia di Lammermoor) also led an exploration of the opera’s musical highlights and Donizetti’s unmistakeable music style, which included a performance by Jette Parker Young Artist, David Junghoon Kim of Edgardo’s extraordinary Act III aria 'Tombe degli avi miei'. Also participating were Dr Flora Willson from King's College London, who explored the opera’s origins, and American tenor Charles Castronovo and French baritone Ludovic Tézier who discussed the challenges of bringing Donizetti’s complex characterization to the stage. The Insight event is now available to watch through our YouTube channel."

[underthecountertenor]

And here's a link to the Insight event. http://www.roh.org.uk/news/watch-kat...ale-characters

[makropulos]

And here's a link to the Insight event. http://www.roh.org.uk/news/watch-kat...ale-characters

Thanks for the link.

As I said in my previous post, apparently the most interesting part of the discussion came after the filming ended.

Did anybody actually go to the event?

[underthecountertenor]

Thanks for the link.

As I said in my previous post, apparently the most interesting part of the discussion came after the filming ended.

Did anybody actually go to the event?

Sorry, makropulos: I failed to note what you'd said in your previous post about the filming ending before the discussion. I'm afraid I didn't go: I really ought to make the effort to go to these events.

[makropulos]

Sorry, makropulos: I failed to note what you'd said in your previous post about the filming ending before the discussion. I'm afraid I didn't go: I really ought to make the effort to go to these events.

They're usually very enjoyable, aren't they? I've done various bits in them, and the combination of contributions always seems to make for a fascinating evening (well attended, too). And this one sounds as if it was pretty lively... (apparently - so it's rumored - when challenged about aspects of the production, Katie Mitchell told the audience they could either close their eyes or not go at all - but that's purely hearsay and may not be true).

[underthecountertenor]

They're usually very enjoyable, aren't they? I've done various bits in them, and the combination of contributions always seems to make for a fascinating evening (well attended, too). And this one sounds as if it was pretty lively... (apparently - so it's rumored - when challenged about aspects of the production, Katie Mitchell told the audience they could either close their eyes or not go at all - but that's purely hearsay and may not be true).

David-G should stand at the door every night selling his Regiemask (TM) - he'd could make a killing. As it were.