The final chapter discusses the opera’s initial reception by nineteenth-century audiences and its future legacy. As many scholars have shown, regardless of its popularity today, the ‘mad scene’ in Act III was not popular in the years following the premiere in 1835. In fact, it was the character Edgardo and his music that received the most praise from audiences and critics alike. Chapter 7 sets out to answer why this was the case by presenting key critical reviews of the work, including those in Naples and Paris. Paris is a rather telling example, for Lucia appeared in three different versions: the original Italian work at the Théâtre-Italien (1837), a French-language version at the Théâtre de la Renaissance (1839) and a French grand opéra version with ballet at the Paris Opéra (1846). In addition to its reception in the press, Chapter 7 also discusses Lucia’s popularity with publishers of opera selections for the salon and the opera’s auspicious appearance in Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary (1857). Such reception points to the extent of the opera’s success outside the opera hall and serves as further evidence of Lucia in the everyday consciousness of European audiences.

In Act III, Lucia, who throughout the opera is increasingly showing signs of mental derangement, murders Arturo, the man who her brother arranged for her to marry. To highlight Lucia’s confused mental state, Donizetti composes a multi-sectional aria interspersed with choruses that begins with Lucia’s memory of Edgardo’s voice (‘The sweet sound’), and ends with a show-stopping cadenza (‘Shed bitter tears’). The orchestral accompaniment to this long multi-part aria (over 20 minutes in length) recalls the music found earlier in the opera, including Lucia’s cavatina, the love duet from Act I and the nuptial agreement music of Act II. In no other bel canto opera does female madness reveal itself to such a degree that we hear in the orchestra the inner thoughts of a madwoman on stage. Lucia’s madness is thus rationalised for the listener as we hear what Lucia hears and yet, it remains a complete mystery for the other characters on stage. In addition, no other bel canto opera in the first half of the nineteenth century that contains female madness has the woman woman commit murder. This plot twist therefore connects with more naturalistic tales of domestic violence made popular in the second half of the nineteenth century, such as in the operas of Verdi, Bizet and Puccini.

Chapter 3 reflects upon the sonic landscape within the opera. In a romantic opera, the orchestra is the cementing agent between the separate dramatic forces of the text and the voice as it often serves as an omniscient narrator, detailing to the listener not only the actions of the characters on stage and the external environment but also the unspoken and unseen world of internal thoughts and desires. By listening to the orchestra, the audience can interpret the sounds they hear as reflective of the overall goals of the principal characters on stage. For example, the ominous use of pianissimo timpani paired with bass drum at the start of the orchestral prelude foreshadows for the listener the death of Lucia, as this is the same music heard in the opera’s final scene. The opening sounds of the prelude remind us that this work is indeed a tragedy where death is the prescribed outcome not only for Lucia but also for her lover, Edgardo. Of particular interest in this chapter is the glass harmonica, originally planned by Donizetti to be used in the ‘mad scene’ of Act III but later replaced with the flute. Donizetti’s original intent of using this high-pitched resonant instrument to depict female madness has come back into practice in modern productions of the work. This presents audiences with contemporaneous sounds of horror, violence and mystery commonly found in fantasy and sci-fi films today.

Chapter 4 discusses Act I, where the action occurs outside the walls of Ravenswood Castle. Early in the act, Enrico Ashton tells us of his hatred for the Ravenswood family. And when he finds out that his sister Lucia has fallen in love with Edgardo, the last surviving Ravenswood, Enrico is doubly enraged, for not only is Lucia in love with a mortal enemy but she is also destroying his plans to marry her off to a wealthy benefactor. We also learn in Act I that a ghost appeared to Lucia at the mouth of a fountain. Although we never see or hear the ghost, only what Lucia sings of it in her gothic-tinged cavatina ‘Regnava nel silenzio’ [‘At dead of night’], the ghost nonetheless haunts Lucia to such a degree that the aria’s melody returns in Act III. In addition to Lucia’s cavatina, Chapter 4 also discusses the famous love duet, ‘Verranno a te sull’aure’ [‘On the breeze will come to you my ardent sighs’]. The dramatic potency of this duet is quite profound as it parallels the betrayal of the ghost by her Ravenswood lover to Lucia’s betrayal in Act II. In short, the opening scenes of Act I reveal the power of vengeance and death that will engulf Lucia.