The premiere of Lucia di Lammermoor in 1835 was a triumph. Four days after the premiere, Gaetano Donizetti wrote: “Lucia […] has been performed and allow me to say in such a warm manner that I am embarrassed by it and yet it is the truth. […] To tell the truth, in the finale, after great cheers at the end of the adagio, Duprez was furiously applauded in the curse before the stretto. Each piece was listened to in religious silence and greeted with the most spontaneous cheers.”
Thus Lucia swiftly conquered Europe and soon the world. The prime donnas of the nineteenth century were at the height of their influence, and the cuts and alterations quickly transformed Lucia into a spectacular heroine‑centered vocal showcase. Donizetti’s only tragic opera to have endured through the centuries without falling into obscurity is much more than that: its dramatic grandeur makes it one of the most beloved Italian operas. Donizetti’s letter, together with the sublime pages of Flaubert describing Emma Bovary attending a performance of Lucia at the Rouen Opera, remind us that audiences of the time clearly perceived the very essence of this masterpiece.
