One of the masterpieces of the romantic Bel Canto period, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor returns to the GNO after an absence of 37 years, in a co-production with the London Royal Opera House from Covent Garden.
The famous British director Katie Mitchell endeavors to penetrate the world of 19th century women and view the plot from the perspective of the main heroine. As a counterpoint to the dark male-dominated world of the north imagined by Sir Walter Scott, Mitchell brings the female viewpoint to the fore and places the work in the overall context of literature from that time, in the style of works such as those by the Brontë Sisters. The theatre stage is divided in two allowing the spectator to view the plot and the proposed reading of it in parallel.
As one of the most genuine and interesting voices in European theatre at present, Mitchell has been guest director for the Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal Court in London, and since 2000 has been directing operas at some of the world's leading opera houses such as the London Royal Opera, the Dutch Opera, the Paris Comic Opera, the Berlin State Opera, Brussels' La Monnaie Theatre, to name a few, as well as at the Aix-en-Provence and Munich Festivals.
Katie Mitchell received popular acclaim from the Greek audience for her direction in Strindberg's masterpiece Miss Julie by the Berlin Schaubühne company staged at the 2012 Athens Festival.
The lead role, which is particularly demanding in vocal and stage terms, will be performed by the acclaimed Greek sopranos Christina Poulitsi (first cast) and Vasiliki Karagianni (second cast).
The production will be conducted by the Kamerata Orchestra's artistic director, conductor Giorgos Petrou and the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra's new artistic director Zoi Tsokanou.