Search - Paul Edmund-Davies, Osian Ellis, Anthony Laciura :: Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor

Perhaps the most underated Lucia in the catalog?

10/03/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While there are numerous recordings of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor from which to choose, this one conducted by the Romanian Ion Marin ranks among the best. This is due to superb playing by the London Symphony Orchestra, a cast with no weak links, and most of all to the ravishing singing of Cheryl Studer. Marin is able to get the most out of the LSO and his singers, and this recording on Deutsche Grammophon captures in clear and beautiful sound a synergy not often heard in the recording studio. Studer is at her absolute finest, and to hear her rendition of the "Mad Scene" is to feel Lucia's anguish as well as her terrifying descent into madness. Studer articulates very clearly and beautifully, and her vocal interpretation of Lucia's emotional state produces a genuine frisson in this most famous of mad scenes. Of course there is much more to Lucia than the "Mad Scene", and this recording rewards the listener from the somber opening notes of the overture to the the work's tragic conclusion. Plácido Domingo is an outstanding Edgardo and the other cast members are equally first rate. The entire cast succeed in breathing life into this opera, creating real characters of flesh and blood. Of course this is a soprano's opera, and while one could make a convincing argument that THE Lucia is that of Callas or Sutherland, I maintain that Studer takes a back seat to neither. Indeed, no aficionado of bel canto should be lacking Studer's magnificent, heart-felt interpretation of Lucia, which one appreciates more deeply with repeated listenings. The opera comes with a libretto in Italian and English, as well as an excellent introduction by Friedrich Lippman."

It grows on one....

Esteban Molina | San Francisco | 09/01/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've given the recording 4 stars, which is a bit too many, because 3 stars seemed too niggardly. Call it 3.8 and I'll be happier. -- I love "Lucia" and looked forward to this recording. My first listening found me a bit disappointed in it. For me there are several faults. First, there is little sense of atmosphere - atmosphere of any kind, but especially none of the brooding sense of tragedy that the work asks for. The lack is found both with the orchestra and with the singers, though I suppose the engineers have some hand in that, at least on recordings. Everything is a bit up front and four-square: no Scottish mist here. [A noticeable lack if you've ever lived in Scotland.] Second, Placido Domingo. I love the man's voice, but there is not a great deal of nuance in his portrayal - certainly no hint of a character revealed from the inside. He too is a bit four-square, stand and deliver. But it's wonderful four-square and strongly, grandly delivered. The conductor strangely pulls back at several pivotal moments and loses dramatic heat. Very odd. Finally, Studer. As with all else in the production, there is no great sense of inner depth; yet I enjoy almost all her singing here. A few places in "Quando rapito" aside when she croons a bit [though admittedly the character is going a bit mooney over her sweetie at the moment], she sings very well. It's an external performance, like everyone else very up-front, but well sung and not untrue to the character, just lacking in the crushed and hounded note one usually expects. And the Mad Scene. Some reviewers take Studer to task for not doing it properly and for hacking it about. Unfair. The Mad Scene as usually heard isn't Donizetti's at all, so don't be unkind to someone who gives us something a bit closer to the composer's creation. The dazzle we usually hear comes from a noted 19th century soprano who interpolated some show-stopping moments to highlight her personal skills - and we've been stuck with it ever since. A pity because - despite the fact that it's wonderfully acrobatic and a wonder that anyone can actually negotiate it at all, not to mention embuing it with any dramatic relevancy whatsoever - the whole thing shoots Donizetti's drama in both feet. So - thank you, Ms Studer, for giving us an alternative that has some wonderful plangency. [As an aside, Callas wanted to record a "Lucia" without the usual Mad Scene interpolation, but she decided against it because she didn't think people would understand and would further accuse her of not being up to the technical demands of the traditional dazzle. A pity - she would have done something memorable.] --- So, why do I like the production more than I did on first hearing? Honestly, it's difficult to say. Though the more dramatically cogent Mad Scene is certainly one reason: I love the minor, plangent, wistfulness of it. And, despite the fact that I miss a sense of morose mist, I do actually enjoy the singing. They all sing their hearts out and do a grand job of it. They may not serve the work or bring out its tragic depths, but neither do they actually betray it. It isn't a first choice; I listen to it only occasionally; but I'm glad to have it. It has a "pull" that is real, even with any reservations noted above."

Great Lucia recording

Esteban Molina | 07/01/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Heresy!... but I like this recording better than the Pavarotti/Sutherland classic. To my taste, Domingo's dramatic voice is more suited to Edgardo, and I absolutely love the bright power of Cheryl Studer's voice. It doesn't hurt that Sam Ramey is the greatest living bass. This is a 1993 DDD recording, so the sound quality is great. My favorite Lucia."