Lucia di Lammermoor at the Royal Opera House

Lucia di Lammermoor at the Royal Opera House

David Buchler
Royal Opera House

Lucia di Lammermoor was Donizetti’s 46th opera written in 1835 and based on Sir Walter Scott’s similarly titled novel.  It was premiered in Naples in its original Italian version, but very soon thereafter a French version (which is rarely performed) was commissioned for the Paris Opera.  Many of the great sopranos have sung the role of Lucia, some of whom have made their career as a result, such as Melba, Callas, Sutherland, Anderson, Serra, Gruberova and more recently, Damrau and Dessay.

Margherita & Risurrezione at Wexford Opera

Margherita & Risurrezione at Wexford Opera

David Buchler

Doctor Tom Walsh must have known the best medicine to cure all of his patients, because it was he and a group of opera lovers that founded the Wexford Opera Festival in 1951 and indeed he became the Festival’s first Artistic Director.  Thereafter, some notable artistic directors have come and gone, namely Brian Dickie pre Glyndebourne and Elaine Padmore pre Royal Opera House.  The current Artistic Director is David Agler, who has been in the role since 2005 and the Chairman is the wonderful Ger Lawlor who is always at the front door to meet and greet patrons as they arrive. The new Wexford Opera House has been rebuilt on the same site and was opened in 2008.  The Festival indeed is a marvel of creation, with the wonderful Irish people always ready to greet its visitors. Never far away is the wonderful smell of the Lobster Pot pub and salt from the Atlantic Ocean nearby.

The Pearl Fishers at LA Opera

The Pearl Fishers at LA Opera

David Buchler

The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which was opened in 1964, seating 3,200 people, is a beautiful opera house.  There is lots of wood and no carpet and the sound is excellent and everything is tall and big, quite typical of such concert halls in America.  However, the seat rows are at times more than 60 seats long with no middle section.  That’s a long walk along the row if you start at the wrong end!  I particularly reflected on the initial announcement made in the auditorium asking the audience to ‘refrain from talking during the opera’! 

Barber of Seville at English National Opera

Barber of Seville at English National Opera

David Buchler

Nearly 30 years has passed since Jonathan Miller’s production of the Barber of Seville adorned the Coliseum stage of the English National Opera.  The moving sets are clever, well lit, light and as relevant today as they were 3 decades ago.  The biggest complement to the restaging by Peter Relton was the joy in which it was received by Jonathan Miller himself, who said ‘its brilliance is nothing to do with me!’  Relton has found comedy and humour where previously there was none, in this 18th century Seville setting. 

Das Wunder der Heliane at Vlaanderen Opera House Antwerp

Das Wunder der Heliane at Vlaanderen Opera House Antwerp

David Buchler

Erich Wolfgang Korngold was born in 1897 in Austria/Hungary and died at the age of 60 in California.  He was a child prodigy, having a great European career until the rise of the Nazi regime forced him to flee to America in 1934.  Thereafter, he worked on some 16 Hollywood films, writing the scores and receiving two Oscars for his work.  His main classical work was written in Europe and this particularly applies to the opera, Das Wunder der Heliane (The Miracle of Heliane), which is written in three acts and was first performed at the Hamburg State Opera in October 1927.