Lucia di Lammermoor

Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti). Libretto by Salvatore Cammarano; 3 acts; first performance Naples 1835.

Scotland, about 1700: Lucia (Lucy Ashton) is in love with Edgardo (Edgar Ravenswood), rival of her brother Enrico (Lord Henry Ashton of Lammermoor). Her nurse Alisa (Alice) acts as lookout while she meets her lover. Enrico conspires with Normanno (Norman) to show her a forged letter supposedly proving Edgardo's infidelity and insists she must marry Arturo (Arthur Bucklaw) to save the family fortune. As the wedding ceremony ends, Edgardo returns and curses her family and Lucia for betraying him. Raimondo (Raymond Bidebent) informs the guests that Lucia has murdered her new husband. She appears, mad and covered in blood, collapses and dies. Learning of her death, Edgardo stabs himself.