LOS ANGELES NEWS
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR/OMAR
Los Angeles Opera’s fall productions include Donizetti’s LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR and OMAR, a new opera by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels. LUCIA will be performed Sept. 17-Oct. 9; OMAR Oct. 22-Nov. 13, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
Gaetano Donizetti’s tragic opera is considered by many to be his masterpiece. Based on a text by Salvatore Cammarano (after Walter Scott), it is a bel canto opera of intense dramatic stature. It tells the tale of Lucia, a woman who doesn’t want to marry the man her abusive brother has picked out for her (in order to save the family’s failing finances). What’s worse, the man she does love is her brother’s sworn enemy.
Two extraordinary sopranos, Amanda Woodbury and Liv Redpath, will take on the iconic title role. Lina Gonzalez-Granados, in her L.A. Opera debut, will conduct. Simon Stone is the director of this new production.
OMAR is based
on an account by Omar Ibn Said, a West African scholar who in early 1800
was captured and forced onto a slave ship bound for South Carolina. His
autobiography, written in Arabic, has been adapted by Rhiannon Giddens
and Michael Abels and serves as the inspiration of their new opera, which
will be sung in English.
Set in an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of memory and imagination, Omar sings
of his compelling journey from a peaceful life in his homeland to captivity
in a violent and foreign world. Through it all, he somehow remains true
to himself and his faith.
Giddens and Abels’ score incorporates distinctive West African traditions
with traditional opera instrumentation. Tenor James McCorkle makes his
company debut as Omar, with bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch taking on the
double role of two very different slave masters.
The New York Times’ opera critic said this about OMAR: “I am
still pondering the artistic miracle that unfolded before me...a showcase
for the musical genius of Rhiannon Giddens.”
Kazeem Abdullah conducts OMAR, Kaneza Schall directs.
(135 N. Grand Avenue, call 213-972-8001 or visit laopera.org)