Jessica Pratt’s Opera Australia Debut As ‘Lucia’

The internationally celebrated Australian soprano Jessica Pratt makes her Opera Australia debut in the title role of  Donizetti’s bel canto masterpiece Lucia di Lammermoor this winter.

Recognised internationally as one of the world’s great ‘Lucia’s’,  Jessica Pratt is making a much anticipated Opera Australia debut. Jessica is one of only three Australian sopranos to perform the coveted role at Milan’s world famous La Scala Theatre, along with two of the country’s most famous singers, Dame Nellie Melba and Dame Joan Sutherland.

Joining Jessica on stage for this landmark performance will be American tenor Michael Fabiano, returning to Sydney for the first time since his stunning OA debut in Faust in 2015. Fabiano has performed the role of Edgardo to high acclaim at Opéra de Paris, Vancouver Opera, and famously as a late stand-in at The Metropolitan Opera, where he had just seven hours notice to take the stage. In the role of Enrico is Italian baritone Giorgio Caoduro, who impressed audiences and critics alike with his performance in OA’s 2012 premiere of Lucia di Lammermoor. They are joined by Richard Anderson, Jane Ede, John Longmuir and Benjamin Rasheed with the Opera Australia Chorus and Opera Australia Orchestra conducted by Carlo Montanaro. Lucia di Lammermoor is a co-production between Houston Grand Opera, Opera Australia and Teatro La Fenice.

Director John Doyle’s production portrays the ominous landscape of Scotland as a background to the deeply entrenched tight-lipped and judgmental Scottish Protestants. This is a tragedy that climaxes in disaster as austerity and repression are forced upon a passionate young woman. The detail on the minimalist set accentuates Set and Costume Designer Liz Ascroft’s exquisite period costumes, which flesh out the characters.

The absolute thrill of Lucia is, of course, the famous “mad scene”, one of the best examples of bel canto writing. The gripping scene depicts the young bride revealing not only her passion for her lost love, but the anguish and torment that has driven her to commit murder on her wedding night. Doyle’s Lucia smears the stage with her new husband’s blood, as the tragedy of her insanity crashes into the horror and recoil of those around her.

This is an opportunity to hear a coloratura soprano at her technical and expressive best. This production is a psychological thriller wrapped in an austere beauty, doused in rivers of blood.

Sung in Italian with English surtitles.

Tickets from $46 (fees may apply) Group and concession prices available for most performances. Student Rush available for most performances: $50 (fees may apply)

Opera Australia Box Office (02) 9318 8200 or www.opera.org.au