The autograph score of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor from Bergamo to New York for the new production at the MET conducted by Riccardo Frizza

The precious manuscript will be on display from 21 April at the Italian Cultural Institute on Park Avenue

Lucia di Lammermoor is undoubtedly, together with L’elisir d’amore, the most famous opera by Gaetano Donizetti and the most performed throughout the world. Thanks to a 1985 donation by the Perolari family, the city of Bergamo was able to acquire the autograph score of this opera, which was first performed at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples in 1835. The score is preserved in the Mai Library. In a few weeks this precious manuscript will travel across the ocean for the first time to be exhibited at the Italian Cultural Institute in New York directed by Fabio Finotti on the occasion of the new, highly anticipated production of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera House with Riccardo Frizza on the podium.

On 21 April, at the ICI premises on Park Avenue, a round table will be organized with the participation of Riccardo Frizza, musical director of the Donizetti Opera Festival, and the contribution of some videos prepared in Bergamo showing Bergamo and the treasures of the “Angelo Mai” Library.

It will also be an opportunity to present the critical edition of Lucia di Lammermoor edited by Gabriele Dotto– who will be at the ICI– and Roger Parker, published a few months ago by Ricordi as part of the National Edition created with the collaboration and contribution of the Municipality of Bergamo and the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti.

The debut of the new production of Donizetti’s opera on the New York stage is scheduled for Saturday 23 April and will go on with 8 performances until 21 May: it will be directed by the Australian Simon Stone, “enfant terrible” of stages all over the world; on stage, in the role of the protagonist, soprano Nadine Sierra; tenor Javier Camarena – well known to the audience of the Donizetti Opera Festival – will be Edgardo.

The documentation of the exhibition of the manuscript score of Lucia di Lammermoor in New York, as well as the textual contributions that are being prepared, together with some videos and in-depth studies, will also be available on the stanzeitaliane.it platform, which has been the virtual museum of the ICI for a year: a way of making the whole documentary work available to scholars and audience who cannot be in New York.

DONIZETTI OPERA FESTIVAL 2022

The 2022 edition dedicate to the boundary between the young and adults

Three donizettian operas La favorite, L'aio nell'imbarazzo, Chiara and Serafina on its modern premiere

Everything is ready for the eighth edition of the Donizetti Opera, the international festival dedicated to the composer from Bergamo, organized by the Donizetti Theatre Foundation chaired by Giorgio Berta with the general direction of Massimo Boffelli, the artistic direction of Francesco Micheli and the musical direction of Riccardo Frizza. The festival will take place in Bergamo, “The City of Gaetano Donizetti”, from 17 November to 4 December 2022.

A new edition of the Donizetti Opera festival – awarded the “Oper! Award” as the best European festival for German critics – which explores the different facets of the “generational gap” through the productions. The programme includes La favorite (18 and 27 November, 3 December) and L’aio nell’imbarazzo (20 and 26 November, 2 December) will be staged at the Donizetti Theatre; Chiara e Serafina (19 and 25 November, 4 December) will be staged at the Teatro Sociale.

THE WORDS OF
RICCARDO FRIZZA
MUSICAL DIRECTOR

“With regard to the theme of the generational gap,” explained musical director Riccardo Frizza, “music has always been at the forefront, having traditionally been based on the relationship between masters and pupils, as well as between performers with longer careers and new promises. In this sense, this edition of the festival – whose programme is inspired by the master-pupil relationship that linked Johann Simon Mayr and Gaetano Donizetti –features experts of the repertoire such as Alex Esposito, Alessandro Corbelli, Javier Camarena, Pietro Spagnoli, Annalisa Stroppa, Florian Sempey alongside a large group of new artists, coming from excellent training paths, who, among other things, symbolize the festival’s desire to be a showcase of new talents. Among the maestri who enrich the experience of this edition, we are very glad to welcome the new maestro of the Donizetti Opera Choir, Bruno Casoni, long-standing protagonist of Italian opera choirs.”