I love Lucia Di Lammermoor for its tragic story and beautiful music, in short it is one of my favourite operas. This Lucia is decent if uneven. Of all the Lucias I've seen, I would recommend the 1983 Sutherland/Kraus, 1982 Ricciarelli/Carreras and 1967 Scotto/Bergonzi productions over this, however it is better than the Met production with Netrebko(I would have have enjoyed that much more had it not been for an inconsistent Netrebko and the disastrous staging of the Sextet).
My main problems are to do with the staging and sets. The staging in the Mad scene and Sextet are good, however there are some ideas that do distract for me. For instance in the Act 1 duet between Lucia and Edgardo I found the business with the singers' cloaks unnecessary. Also some of the effects in staging for the opening chorus was strange to say the least. The Prussian army coats and headgear also came across as anachronistic.
The sets do look colourful, but I found these colours in general too bright. Lucia Di Lammermoor is a dark and very tragic opera, and while I do invite some colour I think in general it should be equally dark and atmospheric. The sets here are very Technicolour and red in look and colour, for me that jarred with the tone of the opera.
Also for my tastes, Arturo was pretty weak. In all honesty, Arturo is hardly the most compelling character of the opera and you don't see very much of him. But you would expect whoever's playing the role to do something with it, I didn't find that here sadly. For my tastes he was too stiff in his acting and his voice is perhaps too light.
On the other hand, there is much to like. For instance this is a complete performance with no cuts, that's a big bonus in itself. Musically it is not easy at all to fault. The orchestra are wonderful, and I haven't heard a conducting job this dynamic for Lucia in a long time. I also had no problem with the tempos and the shading was perfect.
The chorus are excellent too, Lucia Di Lammermoor is a principal-based opera essentially, but the chorus do very well with what they have, even if some of the staging did elude them at times.
As for the DVD itself, while the sets are a little disappointing(the costumes for the principals were fine), the rest of the production values are simply splendid. The sound is never too muffled, and the picture quality and camera work are simply first rate.
This production's performances are excellent. I did have reservations about Stefania Bonfadelli as Lucia, not that she's a bad singer but whether she was my idea for the role- some of my favourite Lucias like Sutherland and Ricciarelli have bigger and richer voices. Actually apart from occasionally choppy legato lines, she does a very solid job, with a convincing interpretation of the Mad scene, her vocal production not too fatigued and her interaction with Alvarez and Frontali good. Another plus is that although she is very beautiful, the performance is never entirely based on that factor.
Marcelo Alvarez is great as Edgardo. He is ardent as he should be, he is never too stolid in his acting and his voice and technique are excellent. He also comes into his own during his final scene, very moving indeed. Robert Frontoli and Mirco Palazzi are rock solid as Enrico and Raimondo, Frontoli is suitably scheming, sympathetic and powerful and Palazzi really shines in the final forty minutes. Alicia and Normanno are more than adequate too.
In conclusion, very decent but the sets, a weak Arturo and some of the staging made the production from extremely good to just good in general(though great in others). 7/10 Bethany Cox
My main problems are to do with the staging and sets. The staging in the Mad scene and Sextet are good, however there are some ideas that do distract for me. For instance in the Act 1 duet between Lucia and Edgardo I found the business with the singers' cloaks unnecessary. Also some of the effects in staging for the opening chorus was strange to say the least. The Prussian army coats and headgear also came across as anachronistic.
The sets do look colourful, but I found these colours in general too bright. Lucia Di Lammermoor is a dark and very tragic opera, and while I do invite some colour I think in general it should be equally dark and atmospheric. The sets here are very Technicolour and red in look and colour, for me that jarred with the tone of the opera.
Also for my tastes, Arturo was pretty weak. In all honesty, Arturo is hardly the most compelling character of the opera and you don't see very much of him. But you would expect whoever's playing the role to do something with it, I didn't find that here sadly. For my tastes he was too stiff in his acting and his voice is perhaps too light.
On the other hand, there is much to like. For instance this is a complete performance with no cuts, that's a big bonus in itself. Musically it is not easy at all to fault. The orchestra are wonderful, and I haven't heard a conducting job this dynamic for Lucia in a long time. I also had no problem with the tempos and the shading was perfect.
The chorus are excellent too, Lucia Di Lammermoor is a principal-based opera essentially, but the chorus do very well with what they have, even if some of the staging did elude them at times.
As for the DVD itself, while the sets are a little disappointing(the costumes for the principals were fine), the rest of the production values are simply splendid. The sound is never too muffled, and the picture quality and camera work are simply first rate.
This production's performances are excellent. I did have reservations about Stefania Bonfadelli as Lucia, not that she's a bad singer but whether she was my idea for the role- some of my favourite Lucias like Sutherland and Ricciarelli have bigger and richer voices. Actually apart from occasionally choppy legato lines, she does a very solid job, with a convincing interpretation of the Mad scene, her vocal production not too fatigued and her interaction with Alvarez and Frontali good. Another plus is that although she is very beautiful, the performance is never entirely based on that factor.
Marcelo Alvarez is great as Edgardo. He is ardent as he should be, he is never too stolid in his acting and his voice and technique are excellent. He also comes into his own during his final scene, very moving indeed. Robert Frontoli and Mirco Palazzi are rock solid as Enrico and Raimondo, Frontoli is suitably scheming, sympathetic and powerful and Palazzi really shines in the final forty minutes. Alicia and Normanno are more than adequate too.
In conclusion, very decent but the sets, a weak Arturo and some of the staging made the production from extremely good to just good in general(though great in others). 7/10 Bethany Cox
