SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL OPERA  REVIEW

 

Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor: Soloists, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias. Coro Opera de Oviedo.Conductor: Roberto Rizzi Brignoli. Teatro Campoamor de Oviedo.15.11.2007 (JMI)

Production from Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile.

Director: Emilio Sagi.
Sets: Enrique Bardolini.
Costumes: Imme Möller.
Lighting: Eduardo Bravo.

Cast:

Lucia: Desirée Rancatore.
Edgardo: José Bros.
Enrico: Dalibor Jenis.
Raimondo: Felipe Bou.
Arturo: Jon Plazaola.
Mikeldi Atxalandabaso: Normanno.

There are operas that need a special singer for the performance to be successful and Lucia di Lammermoor is one of them, although only up to a certain point. This opera has always the favour of the public, provided that there is a soprano who convincing in the Mad Scene and especially if she has all the expected high notes. Nevertheless, I believe that something else has to be considered. If singing consists in transmitting emotions through the voice,  a display  of superb high notes is not enough by itself: the song of a nightingale can cause astonishment, but  not convey emotion. It is clear that the protagonist in Lucia di Lammermoor must have the required high notes, but this is not sufficient to convey the character, or at least it is not enough to leave the theatre convinced and moved. A light soprano can certainly amaze in the role, but it will very difficult for her to move an audience. Lucia is much more that a dialogue between flute  - let us forget the glass harmonica for a moment - and soprano,  or even just a portrayal of madness. The role needs a singer with a  good  middle range, as is easily verifiable  when listening carefully to the score's  tessitura. A light soprano may  sometimes  bring true emotion to the role of course,  but she must be also be an exceptional artist. This is the case with singers  like Natalie Dessay or Patrizia Ciofi, whose vocal fitness for  the role is highly debatable, but whose artistic capacities are extraordinary.

This introduction will explain my reaction to the performance of Sicilian soprano Desirée Rancatore as Oviedo’s Lucia. She has always been and continues to be a light soprano with outstanding  stratospheric notes, and it's not for nothing that  her most famous role is Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann. This means though that her capacity to astonish in Mad Scene is more than doubtful. It is true that her voice has evolved and  today she has a richer low register than a few years ago, but her middle range still lacks sufficient weight - particularly at passaggio zone -  whereas the high notes are still there, perhaps with a little less brilliance than before. If Lucia must move the audience, Ms Rancatore did quite get there and was cheered only after her duet with the flute. She sang “Regnava nel silenzio” perfectly correctly and  without much brightness, was somewhat lacking in the duet with Enrico, but  delivered all the high notes in her great scene wonderfully, in a quite traditional stage performance. If her middle voice does acquires more weight, she could be a very good Lucia, we will have to wait and see.  A totally different matter of course, is  that for any Artistic Director, the high notes in Lucia are still a must, since this is what the public expects.

 

The biggest problem of this production however was in the pit, in performance that was actually lamentable. Roberto Rizzi Brignoli's only asset  was offering the most complete version possible, including the dialogue between Raimondo and Normanno at the end of the Mad Scene (a true anticlimax, by the way) and repeats of the cabalettas. For the rest, the question was whether rehearsals were useful at all: hurried tempi, a uniformly forte sound and serious problems of balance between stage and pit were all too obvious.  And if this wasn't bad enough I should add that the performance Mr Brignoli  drew from his orchestra was approximately worthy of a music hall. This orchestra has shown real quality in the past, most recently in Tristan und Isolde, but this time it  was a very poor shadow of itself. Conductor an opera is more that moving arms about in demanding gymnastic exercises. What really counts are the results and these were just too poor here to be acceptable. The Opera of Oviedo chorus looks more and more like a proper opera company choir these days though particularly the women. Thanks to the courage of the  people in charge of Opera Oviedo the chorus has been dramatically improved and all their hard work has proved  worthwhile.

The main  interest  from the rest of the cast was  the presence of the Catalan tenor  José Bros as Edgardo. During the first part of the performance it was clear that he was not at his best, uncomfortable and rather insecure, especially with top notes, which is certainly not usual for  this artist. An announcement of his indisposition due to tracheatis was made at the beginning of the second half, which should have been done before the opera started.  Singing line, elegance and phrasing was always present despite this problem however and I am sure that in the forthcoming  performances Mr Bros will deliver what we expect from him.

Czech baritone Dalibor Jenis was a standardised  Enrico, without too much vocal interest. He has a pleasant voice in the center, but sang with few nuances and not very outstanding diction. Felipe Bou was a bright Raimondo in all respects, a good choice of a young singer who is clearly improving. Jon Plazaola showed his vocal quality yet again as Arturo, and can be counted as a real luxury in secondary parts nowadays. Mikeldi Atxalandabaso made a fine Normanno, both as singer and actor.

Emilio Sagi's  production of was premiered in Santiago de Chile two years ago and certainly very adequate, without being exceptional. The staging consists of a room with pseudo metallic walls crowned by arches which help with voice projection, so important in opera. The action and, therefore, the costumes are transferred to  the end of XIXth century and the mostly  dark sets are helped by some literally  bright lighting by Eduardo Bravo.

Teatro Campoamor enjoyed its usual packed house and rated a  moderate success  for Rancatore, Bros and Sagi at the final curtain.  

José M. Irurzun