From the very beginning sex and crime were considered to be an absolute guarantee for success in the opera genre as well. Thus, when Salvatore Cammarano was asked to draft a libretto to be set to music for composer Gaetano Donizetti in 1835, he drew on the tragic, romantic novel “The Bride of Lammermoor” (1819) by Sir Walter Scott, which had already inspired a number of stage productions.

Lucia secretly loves Edgardo, the banished heir and master of Ravenswood. Her brother Enrico, who gained possession of Ravenswood illegally, haunts the much-hated lawful descendant and forces his sister into a loveless marriage for money and status to her suitor, Arturo. Lucia, torn between inner longing and outer pressure to act, seeks refuge in a dream world. The wedding is thus fated to end in a catastrophe.

Cammarano used the dramatic dependency of the three main characters to heighten their extreme passions, which he effectively staged in individual scenes. And Donizetti used this bleak tragedy of persecuted innocence to expertly create infectious melodies underpinned by his dramatic score: the protagonist assumes the role of an outsider from the beginning, culminating in the scene of Lucia’s madness which became so famous – with good reason. The composer celebrated one of the greatest triumphs of his life with “Lucia di Lammermoor.” The opera has remained a prime example of virtuoso bel canto to this day.