Special 'Lucia' to close season

To close out the 2001-2002 IU Opera Theater season, the IU School of Music will present a special production of Donizetti's tragic opera "Lucia di Lammermoor," opening 8 p.m. Friday at the Musical Arts Center. Beyond the fact that "Lucia" is considered one of the great operatic master works of all time, or that it is Donizetti's own personal masterwork of Bel Canto dramatic opera, it will be a rare occasion for a new production to be conceived and executed all for and at IU.\n"Lucia," which will be sung in Italian, is based on the Sir Walter Scott novel, "The Bride of Lammermoor," and is set in Scotland. Though the libretto removes much of the novel's detail and many of its characters, the essential story is one of a tragic love between Lucia and Edgardo. \nEdgardo is the sworn enemy of Lucia's brother Enrico, and thus their love is not condoned. To make matters worse, Enrico is preparing to marry Lucia off to Lord Arturo Bucklaw to save himself from financial ruin.\nLucia, who is in a state of mental anguish because of her mother's death, does not wish to marry Arturo because she does not want to cause harm or disobey her brother. Enrico forges a letter to Lucia from Edgardo declaring Edgardo's love for another woman, thereby forcing Lucia to marry Arturo and sending her into depraved madness in the opera's most famous scene.\nThe opera, which dates from 1835, is still a Bel Canto -- loosely translated as beautiful singing -- opera, and it predates the heavy Romantic works of Verdi and later Varismo.\n"It's just a very logical continuation going from Donizetti to Verdi and then going from Verdi to Puccini," said Imre Pallo, who will conduct the Symphony Orchestra in the pit for the opera. "It's Bel Canto, so it catches the audience. It's dramatically correctly constructed; musically it's very special; it has a unique scene -- the mad scene of Lucia -- so all of that together makes for a good opera."\nTo direct this opera, IU brought in the talents of guest director Tito Capobianco, who directed last year's "Rigolleto." He has directed "Lucia" and other Donizetti operas across the world. Capobianco,in addition to being a professional director of operas, has also done much work for academia, most notably the establishment of the Juilliard Opera Center, where he also teaches.\nBut Capobianco also has a special place for IU in his heart.\n"(IU's) the only place in the world that you have this facility," Capobianco said. "Not only do you find this vocal talent, but equal talent in the orchestra, equal talent in the chorus, and the physical facility only Bloomington, Ind., has. It's a unique, unique place."\n"Lucia" has been said to have survived mostly because of its magnificent soprano role in the character Lucia. Even beyond the opera's mad scene, the role is vast and has been a star vehicle for every major soprano from Maria Callas to IU professors of voice Patricia Wise and Virginia Zeani.\n"In each production, I try to use the element I have with me, especially in cases where you have young people," Capobianco said in his fluid Italian dialect. "You transfer ideas to them, and after you take from them also, they are ready to show you emotionally the role. In this case, for example, (the singers playing) Lucia have no limitations at all. I went as far as I can go with a soprano -- you will see watching the performer. They do a magnificent job singing any possible way."\nBecause mounting operas is such a large feat, often the set and costumes for an opera will be built and used several times in production or will be leased to other opera companies. Twice this season IU has produced new productions done at the Musical Arts Center -- "Marriage of Figaro" and "Little Women." In the case of "Figaro," the set was designed with the purpose of being used often at IU with many directors, and for "Little Women," IU is sharing the set with another opera company.\nFor "Lucia," guest director Capobianco worked with designer and IU professor C. David Higgins and lighting designer Michael Schwandt to create a production specifically for this cast, this theater and this production. Such a collaboration is a rarity in the opera world.\n"We spent a great deal of time trying to make the opera and the literature from which the opera comes part of the overall visual impression of the stage," said Higgins, who has woven different visual images such as the moon and water into the design. "It really is a production which has been mounted specifically for and specifically by Tito Capobianco, so it's definitely his interpretation of the work, and that's been unique. Our theater is very well-equipped, we've got a lot of abilities for creating interesting environments, and he's tried to capitalize on all of those, tried to make the most out of our stage as is possible.\n"And I think the results are good. I think that this is something we can be proud of as a school."\n"Lucia di Lammermoor" plays at 8 p.m. today and tomorrow, as well as April 12 and 13 in the Musical Arts Center. Tickets are $9 to $28 and are on sale now at the MAC Box Office (open 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday), all TicketMaster outlets, by phone through TicketMaster at (812) 333-9955 and online at www.music.indiana.edu/boxoffice. "Informances" will be held in the MAC Mezzanine one hour before curtain time at all performances.