Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor closed the opera season organized by the De Carolis Foundation with a classic staging and direction. The opera, absent from Sassari for twenty years, received warm applause from the audience at the Teatro Comunale.
Mezzo-soprano Rocio Perez gave an intense performance as Lucia. Local tenor Matteo Desole also delivered a positive performance as Edgardo. Renato Bonajuto, who directed the opera, and Fabrizio Maria Carminati, who conducted the Sassari orchestra, were the other key players in Donizetti's masterpiece, presented in its complete version.
This season saw the de Carolis and its artistic director Alberto Gazale present a program brimming with new ideas and experimentation, boldly taking risks where many theaters remain within the safe confines of their usual repertoire. The doubling of open-air performances in Piazza d'Italia (Carmina Burana and Madama Butterfly) furthered the effort to bring music to everyone, beyond the theater.
Among the "new projects," mention should be made of Giselle around Le Villi (which combined the famous ballet and an opera by Puccini) and Sibelius's La fanciulla nella Torres (world premiere in its staged form). Strauss's Salome, staged by Hugo de Ana, was a powerful performance. And then there was Verdi's Messa da Requiem with a quartet of leading voices, including two from Sassari, Francesca Sassu and Matteo Desole.
In short, a commendable effort that, it should be noted, relied heavily not only on the organization's orchestra and choirs, but also on local artists. Not to mention the important collaborations established with foreign organizations as well.