(Credit: Speranza Scappucci official website)

The Music Director of Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège Speranza Scappucci has canceled her upcoming performances of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” in November 2021 due to surgery.

Scappucci took to Facebook with the following statement: “Dear Friends and Fans! After a very successful production of Eugene Onegin, I am unfortunately forced to cancel my next project at Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège for Health reasons: I will undergo surgery tomorrow to remove a cyst in my throat that has has grown into a very considerable size. My doctors have advised not to postpone this any longer. For this reason I am very sad to have to cancel Lucia di Lammermoor in Liège.

“I count to come back very soon and stronger than before and I ask for your comprehension if you have bought tickets to see me in this opera. Sometimes we have to simply take care of our health before anything else.
Looking forward to my next engagements in Munchen in December and then again Liège in January.”

As a result, Renato Balsadonna will take over over in the pit. Balsadonna will lead a cast that includes Zuzana Marková, Julien Behr, Lionel Lhote, Luca Dall’Amico, Maxime Melnik, Julie Bailly, and Zeno Popescu. Gianni Santucci executes a production by the late Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera.

The run of “Lucia di Lammermoor” at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège is set to begin on Nov. 19, and will last until Nov. 30, 2021.

Scappucci was recently awarded with the prestigious De Sanctis Europa Prize. The Music Director of the Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liège is set to return to the stage for a concert performance of Rossini’s “Le Comte Ory” at the Bayerischen Rundfunks on Dec. 12, 2021.

OperaWire sends its best to Speranza Scappucci.