Lucia di Lammermoor went crazy last Tuesday night at the San Francisco Opera House, and the audience went crazy for her. Natalie Dessay was magnificent in the title role of Donizetti's opera. Not only does she possess the range and technical command needed for the famously demanding Mad Scene, but she also is an actress capable of expressing a wide range of emotions. Her beautiful sound is never forced and ranges easily from soft to loud, from sustained legato to bursts of coloratura.Natalie Dessay as Lucia
All photos by Terrence McCarthy
Lucia is caught in a family feud of Shakespearian dimensions. Her brother, Enrico of Lammermoor, has killed the father and seized the estate of Edgardo of Ravenswood (Henry and Edgar to Sir Walter Scott, who wrote the novel
The Bride of Lammermoor). Lucia and Edgardo, deeply in love, are secretly betrothed and consider themselves married.
Enrico, in addition to hating Edgardo, has fallen on hard times and needs to marry his sister to Lord Arturo in order to mend his fortunes. As Enrico convinces Lucia that Edgardo has abandoned her, wedding guests assemble and Arturo appears. Lucia, finally giving up hope and submitting to her brother's entreaties, has just signed the marriage contract when Edgardo suddenly bursts in.
This is the occasion for a justly famous sextet. Lucia is in despair, seeing no way to undo what she has done. Edgardo is furious, but still loves Lucia. Enrico, remorseful, sees what is happening to his sister. Arturo probably wishes he were anywhere else, but hopes things will turn out all right, as do Raimondo, Lucia's chaplain and tutor, and Alisa, her companion, who are greatly concerned about Lucia.
Gabriele Viviani (Enrico Ashton) and Natalie Dessay (Lucia)
Gabriele Viviani, in his U.S. debut, sang the part of Enrico. He was a commanding presence on the stage, in both voice and person. Enrico is angry most of the time, and Viviani's dynamic range ran from forte to fortissimo. Yet he could also express remorse for his part in his sister's undoing.
Giuseppe Filianoti was also mostly in loud mode as Edgardo, whose love is more ardent than tender. Even in declaring his love and honorably proposing to ask Enrico for Lucia's hand, Edgardo finds that they need to keep it secret from his sworn enemy. He has much to be upset about, and the men often resort to their swords to deal with their problems. In the end, Edgardo uses his sword on himself, when he hears of Lucia's death. Filianoti gave full utterance to the love and heartbreak of his final aria.
Oren Gradus (Raimondo)
Bass Oren Gradus sang Raimondo strongly, with evident compassion for Lucia, throughout the opera, and Cybele-Teresa Gouverneur as Alisa was her fitting companion. As Arturo, Andrew Bidlack's pure, high tenor was an appropriate contrast to Edgardo's larger sound. I found these three somewhat overpowered in the sextet, leaving an impression of a dominant trio of Enrico, Edgardo, and Lucia.
Blood Wedding
Despite all the forebodings expressed in the sextet, the wedding takes place. The guests are celebrating when Raimondo bursts in (poorly lit) and tells the audience (not the guests: poorly positioned) that Lucia has gone mad and has killed Arturo. Lucia enters, completely unhinged, her white wedding dress drenched in blood. Imagining that Edgardo is her bridegroom, she is happy to be reunited with him. Dessay's singing, vocal fireworks included, conveyed brilliantly the sense of being at last happy and at peace.
A special feature of Dessay's performance of the Mad Scene is the use of a glass harmonica to accompany her, along with a solo flute. Donizetti intended it to be used to accompany Lucia's two love scenes, the first with Edgardo in Act 1 and the second with the imagined Edgardo at the end. A 1983 invention called the verrophone imitates the sound of the glass harmonica, with moistened fingers playing the rims of glass tubes of varying lengths. Dessay collaborated with verrophonist Alexander Marguerre in creating her cadenza.
The production used several sliding panels of differing sizes and shapes. They could create various indoor spaces or slide away to reveal outdoor scenes. When in place, the panels cut the stage in half lengthwise, leaving a space rather cramped for the chorus and rather large for the soloists. There were some resultant ensemble problems, but conductor Jean-Yves Ossonce kept things together. Effective use was made of a weathered tree and a large moon. Two large tartans, one blue for Lammermoor and the other red for Ravenswood, were used as identification, shawls, and carpets.
I wonder whether this opera would still be in the repertoire if it hadn't provided a mad scene, which has made Lucia a signature role for many eminent sopranos. Donizetti's musical language does not seem adequate for dealing with a plot so dependent on fatally timed intrigues and misunderstandings. Certain moments even call to mind Gilbert and Sullivan; and the Mad Scene might never have become so entrenched in the repertoire without the virtuoso cadenza added to it by diva Nelly Melba.
It was interesting to experience this opera near Handel's Ariodante in the same week. Both were given strong performances. Handel's characters, unbelievably gullible and mistrusting, sing music of such emotional penetration that we can laugh at how quickly the villain is dispatched but not mind such moments of absurdity.
Yet Natalie Dessay's stunning performance does Donizetti a great favor. Her gorgeous declaration of love in Act 1, her steadfast defense of her lover shutting down into hopelessness in Act 2, and the ecstasy of her Mad Scene in Act 3 as she believes herself united to her lover — all made this Lucia di Lammermoor an unforgettable experience.
Anna Carol Dudley is a singer, teacher, UC Berkeley faculty emerita, San Francisco State University lecturer emerita, and director emerita of the San Francisco Early Music Society's Baroque Music Workshop.
A special feature of Dessay's performance of the Mad Scene is the use of a glass harmonica to accompany her, along with a solo flute. Donizetti intended it to be used to accompany Lucia's two love scenes, the first with Edgardo in Act 1 and the second with the imagined Edgardo at the end. A 1983 invention called the verrophone imitates the sound of the glass harmonica, with moistened fingers playing the rims of glass tubes of varying lengths. Dessay collaborated with verrophonist Alexander Marguerre in creating her cadenza.
The production used several sliding panels of differing sizes and shapes. They could create various indoor spaces or slide away to reveal outdoor scenes. When in place, the panels cut the stage in half lengthwise, leaving a space rather cramped for the chorus and rather large for the soloists. There were some resultant ensemble problems, but conductor Jean-Yves Ossonce kept things together. Effective use was made of a weathered tree and a large moon. Two large tartans, one blue for Lammermoor and the other red for Ravenswood, were used as identification, shawls, and carpets.
I wonder whether this opera would still be in the repertoire if it hadn't provided a mad scene, which has made Lucia a signature role for many eminent sopranos. Donizetti's musical language does not seem adequate for dealing with a plot so dependent on fatally timed intrigues and misunderstandings. Certain moments even call to mind Gilbert and Sullivan; and the Mad Scene might never have become so entrenched in the repertoire without the virtuoso cadenza added to it by diva Nelly Melba.
It was interesting to experience this opera near Handel's Ariodante in the same week. Both were given strong performances. Handel's characters, unbelievably gullible and mistrusting, sing music of such emotional penetration that we can laugh at how quickly the villain is dispatched but not mind such moments of absurdity.
Yet Natalie Dessay's stunning performance does Donizetti a great favor. Her gorgeous declaration of love in Act 1, her steadfast defense of her lover shutting down into hopelessness in Act 2, and the ecstasy of her Mad Scene in Act 3 as she believes herself united to her lover — all made this Lucia di Lammermoor an unforgettable experience.