I’m so grateful to live the life I do. There’s always something happening. I had something scheduled for every evening this week, including a film screening of The Master and Margarita and a candlelight concert of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, featuring ballet. The former was absolutely brilliant, taking creative license with Bulgakov’s novel to weave his lived reality into the fantastical narrative, but doing so in a way that feels as relevant today as it did in the 1930s. The latter was less impressive, but was nonetheless enjoyable. But my point is that it was a saturated week, so I was looking forward to the weekend for a well-deserved break, but then a friend group chat lit up, “who’s up for opera on Sunday?”
And that’s how I ended up joining a massive group of Russians, most of whom I had never met before, for the final showing of Lucia di Lammermoor at Royal Opera House. Apparently, one of the girls likes to celebrate her birthday in style — treating herself, her friends, and friends-of-friends to a cultural experience. It’s a wonderful idea, one I am already considering co-opting for the future.
Although I’ve grown into quite the opera fan (if my annual Glyndebourne visits are anything to go by), I’m still not anywhere near to being an expert. In fact, while I’d heard of Gaetano Donizetti before, I was not familiar with any of his works. Lucia di Lammermoor is based on Sir Walter Scott’s The Bride of Lammermoor, and despite all the Italian-sounding names and the Italian libretto is actually set in Scotland. It’s a tragic tale of a woman again getting the blame for everything and only being vindicated upon her death.
The storyline seemed like a fairly standard 19th century doomed romance, but Lucia’s eventual murder of her new husband on their wedding night somehow reminded me of Machinal, though, of course, the settings and storylines were completely different. Perhaps it was the parallel of one last gasp attempt to reclaim agency — before, inevitably, succumbing to madness. The singer in the role of Lucia, Liv Redpath, conveyed her complexity of character with such grace, and had an absolutely marvellous voice to match. But my favourite — as well as the audience’s favourite, judging by the reactions — was Xabier Anduaga as Edgardo. His last aria brought me to tears.
Reflecting with a few of the other opera goers after the performance, we realised we aren’t too familiar with the stars of modern opera. I’ve heard, of course, of Freddie de Tommaso, though I’m still not sure I’ve ever seen him perform (I was meant to, but I think there was a last minute casting change). Beyond him, I don’t know anyone else, but I would definitely place Xabier Anduaga among the rising talents. I may not know the judgment criteria of the most established opera critics, but I do know that I could feel his voice deep in my soul. Hopefully I’ll have more opportunities to catch him on stage.
Lucia di Lammermoor finished its run at Royal Opera House on 18 May.
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