Lucia di Lammermoor

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Lucia di Lammermoor, a co-production of the Greek National Opera with the Royal Opera House, London returns to the Stavros Niarchos Hall, on 6 April 2025 for nine performances. Gaetano Donizetti’s masterpiece is presented in a remarkable production with high aesthetics that garnered praise in London and Athens, directed by the famous British director Katie Mitchell and conducted by Lukas Karytinos.

Lucia di Lammermoor, the emblematic masterpiece of romantic bel canto, is based on one of the most popular 19th-century novels, the Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott. The opera premiered in 1835 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples to great success. It is rightfully seen as the work that brought out Donizetti’s talent, despite the fact that he had already composed several notable pieces, including L’elisir d’amore, Lucrezia Borgia, Anna Bolena, and others.

The story is about Lucia’s love for Edgardo of the house of Ravenswood, a man strongly hated by her brother, Enrico Ashton. Determined to end their relationship, Enrico arranges for his sister to marry Arturo Bucklaw. During the wedding ceremony, Edgardo arrives in a furious state and starts cursing Lucia. She loses her mind, kills Arturo, and collapses. Hearing that his beloved has died, Edgardo kills himself.

Katie Mitchell attempts to gain insight into the world of 19th-century women by following the plot through the eyes of the main heroine. As a contrasting foil to the dark, male-dominated world of the North, as imagined by Sir Walter Scott, the director brings to the foreground the female perspective, situating the overall work within the literary context of the time, reminiscent of the atmosphere depicted in the works of the Brontë sisters. Mitchell, in collaboration with the renowned British set and costume designer Vicki Mortimer, creates a stage setting divided into two parts, which allows us not only to observe everything that occurs in every scene of the performance, but also to witness simultaneous events unfolding throughout the story, bridging any gaps.

Katie Mitchell is one of the most authentic and interesting figures in European theatre. She was an Associate Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court Theatre in London, while since 2000 she has been directing opera at the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including the Royal Opera House in London, Dutch National Opera, Opéra-Comique de Paris, Berlin State Opera, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Aix-en-Provence and Munich Festivals, and other venues.

Starring in the performance will be internationally acclaimed soloists, such as Vassiliki Karayanni, Yannis Christopoulos, Dionysios Sourbis, Tassis Christoyannis, Petros Magoulas, Tassos Apostolou.