Act II is laid in the Negroni palace, and is the scene of the banquet,
which has already been described.
When "Lucrezia Borgia" was produced in Paris, in 1840, Victor Hugo, author of the drama upon which the libretto is based, objected. The French have long gone much further than we do in protecting the property rights of authors and artists in their creations. The producers of the opera were obliged to have the libretto rewritten. The title was changed to "La Rinegata" and the scene was transferred to Turkey.
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
Opera in three acts, by Donizetti; words by Salvatore Cammarano, after Scott's novel, "The Bride of Lammermoor." Produced, San Carlo Theatre, Naples, September 26, 1835, with Persiani as _Lucia_, and Duprez as _Edgardo_, the rôles having been especially composed for these artists. London, Her Majesty's Theatre, April 5, 1838, and, in English, at the Princess Theatre, January 19, 1848. Paris, 1839. New York in English, at the Park Theatre, November 17, 1845; and, in Italian, November 14, 1849. Among celebrated _Lucias_ heard in this country, are Patti, Gerster, Melba, Sembrich, Tetrazzini and Galli-Curci (Chicago, November 21, 1916); among _Edgardos_, Italo Campanini and Caruso.
CHARACTERS
LORD HENRY ASHTON, of Lammermoor _Baritone_ LUCY, his sister _Soprano_ EDGAR, Master of Ravenswood _Tenor_ LORD ARTHUR BUCKLAW _Tenor_ RAYMOND, chaplain at Lammermoor _Bass_ ALICE, companion to Lucy _Mezzo-Soprano_ NORMAN, follower of Lord Ashton _Tenor_
Relatives, Retainers, and Friends of the House of Lammermoor.
_Time_--About 1700.
_Place_--Scotland.
(Note. The characters in Italian are Enrico, Lucia, Edgardo, Arturo, Raimondo, Alisa, and Normanno.)
"Lucia di Lammermoor" is generally held to be Donizetti's finest work. "In it the vein of melody--now sparkling, now sentimental, now tragic--which embodies Donizetti's best claim on originality and immortality, finds, perhaps, freest and broadest development." These words are quoted from Baker's _Biographical Dictionary of Musicians_, a volume that rarely pauses to comment on an individual work. "Lucia" is indeed its composer's masterpiece; and a masterpiece of Italian opera in the older definition of that term. Its melodies are many and beautiful, and even when ornate in passages, are basically expressive of the part of the tragic story to which they relate. Moreover, the sextet at the end of the second act when _Edgar of Ravenswood_ appears upon the scene just as Lucy with trembling hand has affixed her signature to the contract of marriage between _Lord Bucklaw_ and herself, ranks as one of the finest pieces of dramatic music in all opera, and as a concerted number is rivalled, in Italian opera, by only one other composition, the quartet in "Rigoletto."
The sextet in "Lucia" rises to the full height of the dramatic situation that has been created. It does so because the music reflects the part each character plays in the action. It has "physiognomy"--individual aspect and phraseology for each participant in the drama; but, withal, an interdependence, which blends the voices, as they are swept along, into one grand, powerful, and dramatic climax.
Another number, the mad scene in the third act, gives coloratura sopranos an opportunity for technical display equal to that afforded by the lesson scene in "Il Barbiere di Siviglia"; and, unlike the latter, the music does not consist of interpolated selections, but of a complete _scena_ with effective recitatives and brilliant solos, that belong to the score.
In the story of "Lucia," the heroine's brother, _Lord Henry Ashton_ of Lammermoor, in order to retrieve his fallen fortunes, and extricate himself from a perilous situation in which his participation in political movements directed against the King has placed him, arranges a marriage between his sister and _Lord Arthur Bucklaw_. _Lucy_ herself knows nothing of this arrangement. _Henry_, on the other hand, is equally ignorant of an attachment which exists between _Lucy_ and _Edgar of Ravenswood_, between whose family and his own there long has been a deadly feud. When he discovers it, he uses the most underhand methods to break it off.
_Edgar of Ravenswood_ is the last of his race. While he is absent on a mission to France in the interests of Scotland, he despatches many letters to _Lucy_. These letters are intercepted by _Henry_ who also arranges that a forged paper, tending to prove the infidelity of _Edgar_, is shown to _Lucy_. Urged by the necessities of her brother, and believing herself deserted by her lover, _Lucy_ unwillingly consents to become the bride of _Lord Arthur Bucklaw_. But, just as she has signed the marriage contract, _Edgar of Ravenswood_ suddenly appears. He has returned from France, and now comes to claim the hand of _Lucy_--but too late. Convinced that _Lucy_ has betrayed his love, he casts the ring she gave him at her feet and invokes imprecations upon her and his ancient enemies, the House of Lammermoor.
At night he is sought out in his gloomy castle by _Henry_. They agree upon a duel to be fought near the tombs of the Ravenswoods, on the ensuing morning, when _Edgar_, weary of life, and the last of a doomed race, intends to throw himself on his adversary's weapon. But the burden of woe has proved too much for _Lucy_ to bear. At night, after retiring, she goes out of her mind, slays her husband, and dies of her sorrows.
_Edgar_ awaits his enemy in the churchyard of Ravenswood. But _Ashton_ has fled. Instead, _Edgar's_ solitude is interrupted by a train of mourners coming from the Castle of Lammermoor. Upon hearing of _Lucy's_ death he plunges his dagger into his breast, and sinks down lifeless in the churchyard where repose the remains of his ancestors.
On the stage this story is developed so that shortly after the curtain rises on Act I, showing a grove near the Castle of Lammermoor, _Henry_ learns from _Norman_ the latter's suspicions that _Lucy_ and _Edgar_ have been meeting secretly in the park of Lammermoor. _Norman_ has despatched his huntsmen to discover, if they can, whether or not his suspicions are correct. "Cruda funesta smania" (each nerve with fury trembleth) sings _Henry_.
Returning, the hunters relate, in a brisk chorus, that
Long they wander'd o'er the mountain, Search'd each cleft around the fountain,
finally to learn by questioning a falconer that the intruder upon the domain of Lammermoor was none other than _Edgar of Ravenswood_. Rage and the spirit of revenge are expressed in _Henry's_ vigorous aria, "La pietade in suo favore" (From my breast I mercy banish).
[Music: La pietade in suo favore]
The scene changes to the park near a fountain. What now occurs is usually as follows. The curtain rises, and shows the scene--evening and moonlight. There is played a beautiful harp solo, an unusual and charming effect in opera. Having prepared the mood for the scene which is to follow, it is promptly encored and played all over again. Then _Lucy_ appears with her companion, _Alice_. To her she relates the legend of the fountain, "Regnava nel silenzio" (Silence o'er all was reigning).
[Music: Regnava nel silenzio]
This number gives an idea of the characteristics of _Lucy's_ principal solos. It is brilliant in passages, yet its melody is dreamy and reflective. Largely due to this combination of traits is the popularity of "Lucia di Lammermoor," in which, although there is comparatively little downright cheerful music, it is relieved of gloom by the technical brilliancy for which it often calls;--just as, in fact, _Lucy's_ solo following the legend of the fountain, dispels the dark forebodings it inspired. This second solo for _Lucy_, one of the best-known operatic numbers for soprano, is the "Quando rapito" (Then swift as thought).
[Music: Quando rapito in estasi del più cocente ardore]
Another beautiful and familiar number is the duet between _Lucy_ and _Edgar_, who has come to tell her of his impending departure for France and to bid her farewell: "Verranno a te [Transcriber's Note: original has incorrect "lá"] sull'aure" (My sighs shall on the balmy breeze).
[Music: Verranno a te sull'aure i miei sospiri ardenti]