New production Opéra de Lausanne
The deep-seated hatred between their families prevents Lucia Ashton and Edgardo Ravenswood to live their love openly. Taking advantage of Edgardo’s departure, Enrico’s people convince the young girl she has been betrayed by her lover. Lucia is forced into marrying Arturo by her brother: the brutality of the situation drives her to madness to the point that she murders her husband during the ceremony. Edgardo discovers Lucia is dead and, beside himself with grief, takes his own life.
Dramma tragico in two parts
Libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, based on The Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott
First performed in Teatro San Carlo, Naples, 26 September 1835
Éditions G. Ricordi & Co. Bühnen- und Musikverlag GmbH, Berlin
Version Jesús López Cobos
New production Opéra de Lausanne
The Dutch soprano has been leading a brilliant international career in opera and concert for several years now, inviting her to the main stages of the world – Scala in Milan, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Mostly Mozart Festival in New York, Salzburg Festival, Edinburgh Festival… Among her current engagements, we can mention: Madame Herz in Mozart’s Schauspieldirektor, Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots and projects around Elizabeth I of England and bel canto at La Monnaie in Brussels, a stage version of Bach’s St. John Passion at Châtelet, Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and Strauss Lieder with the Hague Residence Orchestra, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Munich Philharmonic, excerpts from Così fan tutte (Fiordiligi) in concert version at the Schlosstheater in Potsdam, as well as Handel’s Il delirio amoroso with the Spanish National Orchestra in Madrid.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Lucia de Lammermoor (2017) and Gli amori di Teolinda by Meyerbeer (2019).
Born in La Laguna, on the island of Tenerife, Airam Hernández studied French horn at the Conservatorio Superior de Tenerife and then voice at the Conservatorio del Liceu in Barcelona. He began his career on the stage of the Opernhaus in Zurich, first as a member of the Opernstudio and then as a member of the soloist ensemble. He took part in the resurrection of Franz Liszt’s recently rediscovered opera Sardanapalo with the Staatskapelle Weimar and sang the title roles in two world premieres: that of Enrico Caruso in Caruso a Cuba by Micha Hamel and that of Federico García Lorca in El Abrecartas by Luis de Pablo at the Teatro Real in Madrid. His international career has taken him to the stages of the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, the Dallas Opera, the LAC in Lugano, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, La Fenice in Venice or the Philharmonie de Paris, working with conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel, Teodor Currentzis, Giovanni Antonini, Nello Santi, James Conlon, Marco Armiliato, Ivor Bolton, Stéphane Denève, Kirill Karabits, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Jesús López Cobos, as well as directors such as Barrie Kosky, Robert Wilson, Jürgen Flimm, David Pountney, Laurent Pélly, Robert Carsen and Stefano Poda. This summer he made his debut as Rodolfo (La bohème) in Pamplona and as Master Peter in Manuel de Falla’s El Retablo de Maese Pedro at the Teatro Real in Madrid under the baton of Pablo Heras-Casado; he also played the roles of Tamino (Die Zauberflöte) in Palermo and Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor) at the Oper Köln. His projects notably include playing Grigori (Boris Godunov), Leicester (Maria Stuarda) and Erik (Der fliegende Holländer).
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Lucia de Lammermoor (2017).
Cristina Segura graduated with the highest honours from the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona in Dolors Aldea’s class. She is pursuing two Masters at the Geneva University of Music in Nathalie Stutzmann’s class, and in the Udo Reinemann International Lied Masterclasses at the Bruxelles Conservatory. She was the winner of the 20th Josep Mirabent Competition and the Jeunesses Musicales Lied Award. She made her opera debut as the witch in Hänsel und Gretel, Zita in Gianni Schicchi and the title-role in The Medium by Menotti and the Mother, the China cup and the Dragonfly in L’enfant et les sortilèges. She has performed in numerous concerts throughout Spain, including at the Manuel de Falla Auditorium in Grenada, the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Girona Auditorium. She recently performed in El imposible mayor, en amor le vence amor at the Teatro de la Zarzuela with Capella Mediterranea, directed by Leonardo García Alarcón. She recently recorded the title-role in Gaziel by Granados with the Cadaqués Orchestra.
Current projects: a concert of works by Bach and Zbinden with the OCL in May 2018.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Pepa in La Belle de Cadix (2016), the Ostrich in Les Zoocrates (2017), Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor (2017) and Teresa in La Sonnambula (2018).
Pier-Yves Têtu studied singing with Paul Guigue at the conservatories of Grenoble and Nevers, as well as with Vivianne Zlomke-Dallinges, disciple of Rudolf Knoll, in Geneva. He also studied harmony and counterpoint with François Lusignan, in parallel with classical accordion studies at the André Thépaz Institute in Chambéry. In 2010, he joined the choirs of the Lausanne Opera and the Avenches Opera Festival. Regularly solicited as a soloist or chorister in various oratorio concerts in the Rhône-Alpes region and in Switzerland, he sings under the direction of Michel Corboz, Celso Antunes, Laurent Touche, Emmanuel Krivine, David Reiland, Arie van Beek, Philippe Bérand and Jesús López Cobos. He interprets Menelaus in La belle Hélène, Beppe in Rita ou le mari battu, a brother of Anna in The Seven Deadly Sins by Kurt Weill.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Un ballo in maschera (2010), Les mousquetaires au couvent (2013), Die lustige Wittwe (2014), La Traviata (2015), My fair Lady (2015), La fille du régiment (2016), Lucia di Lammermoor (2017) and La belle Hélène (2019).
The Opéra de Lausanne Choir is young, made up of students of singing from Lausanne’s University of Music and the Geneva HEM, and professional singers. Its members are selected by audition and periodically reheard. For each opera, they are distributed depending on their voice and/or aptitudes. Thanks mainly to their talent on stage, supported by an infectious enthusiasm, they are highly appreciated by all the theatre directors invited. For a few years the choir has benefitted from preparation by several experienced choir masters from different backgrounds, chosen depending on the works being sung and their specific interest.
Jacques Blanc studied the piano at the Conservatoire National de Marseille, and orchestra conducting with Jésus Etcheverry. He began as a singing master then became choir master at the Nantes and Strasbourg Operas. He supported Jeffrey Tate and George Prêtre, before becoming a conductor himself in Bordeaux, Montpellier, Limoges, Nice and Nantes. Between 1986 and 1988 he was director of vocal studies at the CNIPAL national opera centre in Marseille. From 1999 to 2010, he became the permanent chorus master and director of vocal studies of the Opéra National de Bordeaux, and contributed to performances such as Turandot, Carmen and La Bohème. He now devotes himself to conducting and the study of repertoire with young singers to guide them in their careers. He recently conducted La Traviata while on tour with the Opéra en Plein Air. At the Opéra de Lausanne: Die Zauberflöte (1991) assisting Armin Jordan; Phi-Phi (2014) and La belle de Cadix (2016) as conductor; Manon (2014), Die lustige Witwe (2014), My Fair Lady (2015), Les mamelles de Tirésias (2016), La vie parisienne (2016), La Bohème, Hamlet and Lucia di Lammermoor (2017), Die Fledermaus (2018) as chorus master.