Wonderfulsinging in a passionatework of art

Lucia di Lammermoor is a popular Italian opera set in Scotland and based on a story by Sir Walter Scott; it is full of passion and drama.

This Buxton Festival production was much appreciated by the audience at the town’s Opera House.

The cast and orchestra really did justice to the wonderful music.

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Elin Pritchard excelled in the demanding leading role with its vocal gymnastics. She was truly impressive in the mad scene which calls for considerable acting agility as well as vast soprano skills. The male soloists sang really well. The chorus was wonderful.

The costumes were in the fashion of the late 1940s, which did not fit the story. Lucia’s tight fitting two piece suit in her first scene made her look as it she had just been shopping on Bond Street, rather than meeting her lover in a haunted Scottish ruin. Fortunately the mad scene was on her wedding night, so her negligee gave her freedom of movement. But the costumes were a minor irritant compared with the beautiful music, its complex interweaving patterns of voices and orchestra and its lyrical melodies.

Lucia di Lammermoor ends its run at Buxton Opera House on Saturday, July 24.

Mavis Kirkham

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