{"id":10281,"date":"2015-02-18T06:19:58","date_gmt":"2015-02-18T14:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=10281"},"modified":"2015-02-16T13:22:26","modified_gmt":"2015-02-16T21:22:26","slug":"lucia-di-lammermoor-tells-classic-tale-of-love-and-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2015\/02\/18\/lucia-di-lammermoor-tells-classic-tale-of-love-and-tragedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucia Di Lammermoor<\/em> tells classic tale of love and tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the classic story of love and hate, and the beautifully tragic opera Lucia Di Lammermoor<\/i> will soon be wowing Victoria audiences. The opera, based on a book by Sir Walter Scott, is a familiar story of heartbreak and tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cA young woman falls in love with a young man who is the enemy of her family,\u201d says director Glynis Leyshon. \u201cHer brother and [her lover] are at political odds and they\u2019re separated, much like Romeo and Juliet.<\/i> In essence it\u2019s very much like Romeo and Juliet<\/i>, the idea of innocence destroyed by the warring fanaticism of two opposing political points of view.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leyshon, who has directed plays and operas all across Canada and the United States, knows this story well, as it\u2019s not her first time directing it. She\u2019s excited to return and give it a fresh spin.<\/p>\n

\"Lucia<\/a>
Lucia Di Lammermoor<\/em> tells a timeless tale (photo by David Cooper).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was one of the very first operas I did for Pacific Opera, so now, some 20 years later, I\u2019m delighted to re-enter it and work with new colleagues on it,\u201d says Leyshon. \u201cI have chosen to revisit it in an entirely different way. We wanted to make the set minimalist, strong, extracted, rather than any kind of naturalism, so it has a much more abstracted and metaphorical impulse than the first production.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leyshon can\u2019t say enough about how lucky she is to have such fantastic performers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all wonderful as well as superb singers and superb actors,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019ve really enjoyed a very theatre-style rehearsal period where we\u2019ve invested a lot of time, energy, and discussion into details and specific moments between them as characters and their psychological relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ernesto Ramirez, the actor playing the male lead, says that the opera company and the whole cast has treated him very well, and he\u2019s really happy to be back performing in Victoria for the second time. He says that although he doesn\u2019t have as much anger as his character, he still relates to him on many levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cI relate to him a lot in terms of his personality. He\u2019s very driven. He\u2019s determined to get what he wants. I think that\u2019s something that I as an artist have; I\u2019m very determined to accomplish my own goals,\u201d says Ramirez.<\/p>\n

Ramirez, an opera fan who has seen more than 70 operas, says the music in Lucia Di Lammermoor<\/i> is \u201cbreathtaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I\u2019m singing the music it just makes me fall in love more and more and more,\u201d says Ramirez. \u201cThis opera is the most complete I\u2019ve seen, in the sense of technique and how it\u2019s written for the character and brings the emotions to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Leyshon says the show promises to be an exciting piece for everyone. Everyone who loves opera and loves singing will respond to this show, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this is also a terrific intro piece for people who may not be very familiar with opera. It\u2019s a strong story and the music is very engaging and grabs you, so, for such a sad opera, it\u2019s a terrific date opera,\u201d says Leyshon. \u201cIt\u2019s something that young people may be drawn to, especially as we realize today the awful, awful cost on humanity that warring factions can cause, and it will have a potent sense of reality for our younger audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucia Di Lammermoor
\n<\/i>8 pm February 12, 14, 18, 20; 2:30 pm February 22
\n$25-$135, Royal Theatre
\nrmts.bc.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the classic story of love and hate, and the beautifully tragic opera Lucia Di Lammermoor will soon be wowing Victoria audiences. The opera, based on a book by Sir Walter Scott, is a familiar story of heartbreak and tragedy. \u201cA young woman falls in love with a young man who is the enemy of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-february-18-2015"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10281"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10283,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10281\/revisions\/10283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}