It did not matter that Donizetti composed Lucia di Lammermoor in a few weeks to create one of the most important and popular masterpieces of romantic Italian opera, which flourishes not only because of its melodic richness and its characters portrayed with concision through the music. Lucia was part of the central repertoire of the Wiener Staatsoper until 1926 and then once again from 1978, offering to generations of singers the possibility of demonstrating their skills in the supreme art of bel canto.
In this fantastic scenography by Laurent Pelly, a top range group of singers shine like never before. When the amazing Olga Peretyatko shows Lucia’s gripping fall, “music and theatre blend into an explosive mixture” (Wiener Zeitung). Juan Diego Flórez, the superstar of bel canto, is "probably the best Edgardo in the world" (Kronenzeitung). George Petean joins them as Enrico in the emotional triangle of love, hate and passion. With Evelino Pidò at the podium, the orchestra of the Opera of Vienna excels with this “ideal maestro of the music of bel canto” (Die Presse).