Will My Opera Mocking Friend Finally Get To See An Opera On Television ?
I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I told my opera mocking friend about the PBS telecast of Lucia Di Lammermoor from the Metropolitan Opera which can be seen on April 15, and that he ought to try it. He still laughed and thought it would be one of those silly affairs with fat singers in Viking costumes etc. But he finally said he might give it a try.
I told him that it will be totally unlike what he imagines it would be, and that he'll see real people in real life situations. I said that it will actually be more like those British dramss they have on PBS. The opera is the story of Lucy (LUcia in Italian) of Lammermoor in Scotland, who is in love with a young man,Edgar,or Edgardo in Italian, from a rival clan. Her family is appalled as you might expect. Her unscrupulous brother Henry Ashton, head of the family, wants her to marry a wealthy man she does not know , to save the family both politically and financially.
Enrico forges letters from Edgardo to Lucia, deceiving her into believing that Edgardo no longer loves her. The girl is devastated, and reluctantly agrees to the arranged marriage. But by the wedding night, she has gone insane, and stabs the bridegroom to death, which you don't see in the opera. The wedding guests are horrified to hear this, and in comes the deranged Lucia, in her blodd-stained wedding gown, fantasizing of being wed to Edgardo. Later, Edgardo hears of the tragedy, and stabs himself to death.
Will he actually give the opera a chance and try it. I'm hoping it will cure him of his misconceptions. Don't miss the telecast yourself !