Arts & Events

San Francisco Opera’s new production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor may offer vague, confusing staging, but it comes through musically with great singing. What the staging lacks -- in failing to focus the drama in any particular historical period or culture, instead offering a mishmash of sleek marble walls and costumes of modern-day business suits mixed in with military outfits – the singing more than makes up for. This is perhaps as it should be, since, where other composers might choose to tell this lurid story in music of violent dissonance and rhythmic urgency, Donizetti relies almost exclusively on his highly expressive lyricism. This lyricism rings true in each and every moment of this great opera. 

Adapted from an 1815 novel by Sir Walter Scott, Lucia di Lammermoor has always been a vehicle for great sopranos. Maria Callas made several highly acclaimed recordings of Lucia in the 1950s, and her Mad Scene is still considered tops. Aside from hearing the exquisite French soprano Mady Mesplé sing this role in Paris back in 1970, the finest Lucia I ever heard live was Beverly Sills, whom I enjoyed hearing twice in this role: in 1971 in Houston with John Alexander as a so-so Edgardo, and in 1972 in San Francisco opposite an outstanding Luciano Pavarotti. More recently, I heard Anna Netrebko sing a passionately engaged Lucia in 2003 at Los Angeles Opera, though her Edgardo was a thoroughly nondescript José Bros.  

Here in San Francisco this season, Lucia is sung by Nadine Sierra, who stepped in as a late replacement for the fatigued Diana Damrau. A recent Adler Fellow who came up through the Merola program here, Nadine Sierra has quickly blossomed into an international star. Vocally, Nadine Sierra sang with a crystalline tone and displayed excellent command in her many coloratura passages. Dramatically, Sierra was a passionately engaged heroine. Lucia’s love for Edgardo Ravenswood was incandescent in Sierra’s portrayal. Yet through no fault of Sierra’s, the staging by Michael Cavanagh made this Lucia highly susceptible to ghosts. She sees them everywhere. Almost her first words in this opera speak of her encounter with a female ghost, the long-ago victim of a brutal murder by a Ravenswood lover. As Lucia sings of this past encounter with a ghost, the ghost appears to her—and to us. Lucia also sees the ghost of her recently deceased mother, who looks confusingly like the earlier ghost. When her brother, Enrico Ashton, bullies Lucia into agreeing to marry Arturo Bucklaw against her wishes, Enrico threatens to take his own life if she refuses, saying that his blood will be on her hands and his ghost will haunt her. Sure enough, director Cavanagh musters a ghostly double who appears right on cue. To make matters worse, when Edgardo sings of his vow to avenge the murder of his father by Enrico Ashton, director Cavanagh once again conjures up the appearance of yet another ghost. To paraphrase Emperor Joseph’s famous remark to Mozart about “too many notes,” this staging of Lucia di Lammermoor simply has “too many ghosts.” 

If Lucia is portrayed in this production as all too susceptible to ghosts, there are hot-blooded dramatic and vocal characterizations on the male side offered by tenor Piotr Beczala as Edgardo and baritone Brian Mulligan as Lucia’s brother, Enrico Ashton. These two men, Lucia’s lover and her brother, find themselves locked in a blood-feud going back generations and fueled by their opposed political allegiances in the current situation. Whatever this latter may be is not clear in this confused, ahistorical staging of Lucia. However, what is clear, in the inspired singing and acting of Piotr Beczala as Edgardo and Brian Mulligan as Enrico, is that these two men are implacably opposed and hate each other with a passion. Beczala, who was last heard here in 2008 in La Bohème, was especially impressive in Lucia both for his powerful yet agile vocalism and for his energetic acting as Edgardo. Mulligan, on the other hand, while impressive in his sonorous vocalism, gave an over-the-top portrayal of Enrico as a blustering, bullying, all-out villain. As staged by Michael Cavanagh and costumed by Mattie Ulrich, Enrico seems to be a military man with huge political ambitions. He struts around bellowing orders and is backed up by what looks for all the world like black leather-clad storm-troopers armed with semi-automatic weapons. In this production, Lammermoor Castle is no castle at all, but rather a sleek, modern corporate retreat overlooking the Scottish coast. It is here, in this posh retreat, that Enrico makes use of a forged letter to persuade Lucia that Edgardo loves another woman, with the result that, succumbing to this blow, Lucia reluctantly agrees to marry Arturo Bucklaw. Then, after the wedding, Lucia has a mental breakdown, murders her bridegroom, and descends into madness. 

Donizetti’s music features beautiful lyricism throughout. In Act I, Scene II, a lovely harp solo introduces the fountain scene where Lucia tells her friend Alisa of the ghostly legend of this fountain. Alisa, by the way, is here beautifully sung by mezzo-soprano Zande Svede, an Adler Fellow. When Lucia’s lover, Edgardo, rushes in for a rendez-vous, there ensues a magnificent love duet. With the words, “Verrano a te sull’ aure”(“My sighs shall on the balmy breeze”), Edgardo pledges his love and vows that the thought of Lucia shall be ever present in his mind, though for the time being he shall be far away in France on a diplomatic mission. At the end of Act II, there is the famous sextet, often hailed as one of the finest dramatic ensembles in all opera.  

Act III’s Mad Scene, of course, is the real showpiece of Lucia di Lammermoor; and it was beautifully sung here by Nadine Sierra, accompanied by the famed flute obbligato. Dramatically, this scene was staged with the nude body of the slain Arturo lying face-down and soaked in blood on their marriage-bed, while Lucia trailed the bloody sheets behind her as she wandered about in search of her lover Edgardo. My only reservation about Sierra’s singing in the Mad Scene occurred when Sierra, seeing a ghost appear, suddenly sang, “Il fantasma! Il fantasma!” For some reason, Sierra went against tradition and sang these words softly, almost hesitantly. This production opened Act IV with the sometimes omitted “Wolf Crag” scene in which Enrico Ashton confronts Edgardo Ravenswood on a mountaintop and challenges him to a duel the following morning at dawn. This duel never takes place for the simple reason that in the night Lucia dies of her madness. Edgardo, alone in the Ravenswood cemetery by the fountain, learns of Lucia’s death and launches into the great aria, “Tu che a Dio spiegasti l’ali” (”You who have flown from me to Heaven). When the words, “O bell’ alma innamorata” (“Oh beautiful beloved soul”) are reprised a second time, they are preceded by a lovely cello solo playing the same melody. Edgardo, utterly devastated by Lucia’s madness and death, commits suicide as he vows to be reunited with Lucia in Heaven. 

Mention must be made of bass-baritone Nicolas Testé’s superbly robust singing as Raimondo, here portrayed as a spiritual advisor to Enrico Ashton. In a minor role, tenor AJ Glueckert ably sang the part of Normanno, a member of Enrico Ashton’s entourage. Musical Director Nicola Luisotti led the orchestra in a tightly knit performance; and the chorus led by Ian Robertson contributed grandly to the musical and dramatic unity of this great opera. Scenic and Projection Designer Erhard Rom contributed video images of the Scottish coast and highlands. If only Michael Cavanagh’s staging had been a great deal more focused, this would have been an exceptional Lucia di Lammermoor. In any case, I’ll take great singing anytime over whatever staging is offered; and great singing was definitely offered here.