Maria Angeles Peters as Lucia at the start of her career

THE SONGBIRD: Maria Angeles Peters was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil of Spanish parents. She studied voice in Spain and won several voice European competitions. Her debut was at the Piccola Scala in Milan in 1982, singing Pergolesi's "La serva padrona." Peters sang the core Italian lyric-coloratura roles (Lucia, Gilda Nanetta, Musetta, Adina, Amina) but also specialized in regional revivals of obscure works by 18th and 19th century composers including Cimarosa, Donizetti, Fioravanti, Martin y Soler, Paisiello, Pergolesi, Piccinni, Traetta, and Vinci.

THE MUSIC: Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" has become one of the quintessential operas for a coloratura soprano -- it's one of the most widely produced bel canto operas in the world and the title character is a benchmark role for this voice type. Donizetti composed it in 1835, which was a peak of his artistic and popular success -- Rossini had recently retired, Bellini had just died, and Verdi had not yet had his first premiere ("Oberto" in 1837). Based on Walter Scott's novel, the opera premiered in Naples. The plot in a nutshell: after being tricked into marrying a man she doesn't love, and lied to that her true love has betrayed her, Lucia loses her mind and murders the groom on her wedding night. The mentally unstable young woman appears in a bloodied gown and sings a long, complex, and haunting "mad scene" mixing delusion and grief that is a musically and dramatically innovative tour-de-force of bel canto vocalism and gripping tragedy. The primary section of the mad scene culminates in a long cadenza with a flute (and occasionally the glass harmonica).