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Article: Cincinnati.
- Article from:
- Opera Canada
- Article date:
- September 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Opera Canada Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The American premiere of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor was sung in French, not Italian. Lucie de Lammermoor, created for Paris in 1839, was performed in New Orleans in 1841, but this French version subsequently fell out of favor. Recently, though, a production of Glimmerglass Opera and Boston Lyric Opera put Lucie back on the American stage, and in June it travelled to Cincinnati Opera.
Today, the French version seems more a curiosity than anything, although it is potentially a more sparkling vehicle for its star since its key is a step higher. The problem lies in stylistic decisions when one is singing French words to unabashedly Italian music. The text was ...