Lucia di Lammermoor
By Gaetano Donizetti
Opéra de Montréal
Conductor, Steven White
Director, David Gately
A review of the performance on May 23, 2009
This bel canto opera is arguably Donzietti's best, abounding in melodic and harmonic richness and in occasions for sumptuous vocal embellishment. Although to my ear Rossini's musical lines and rhythms are more interesting, and Bellini's melodies are sweeter and more liquid, Donizetti's music feels uniquely effortless, even spontaneous.
Based on Sir Walter Scott's novel The Bride of Lammermoor, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor tells the story of the fragile Lucia, who falls in love with Edgardo, an enemy of her Scottish clan. For the sake of financial security, however, Lucia's brother, Enrico, forces her to marry Arturo, a nobleman. To help persuade her, Enrico shows Lucia a forged letter stating that Edgardo has taken a new lover. Reluctantly, Lucia signs the marriage contract with Arturo. Upon discovering this supposed betrayal, Edgardo curses Lucia.
During the marriage celebration, Lucia gradually descends into madness and eventually stabs her bridegroom to death. Clearly deranged, she then wanders into the hall where the festivities are underway, and in the ensuing "mad scene" she sings "Il dolce suono", in which she imagines herself married to Edgardo. But her hallucination shifts into a re-enactment of the scene in which Edgardo cursed her, with Lucia crying out to her lover and promising to pray for him in Heaven. When word of Lucia's demise reaches Edgardo, he sings an apostrophe to his piteous beloved, draws his dagger, and plunges it into himself. He dies as the curtain falls.
Having said all this, I confess that what has always puzzled me about Lucia is the gap between the mood of the story and the mood of the music. Donizetti often pairs musical buoyancy with emotional distress, leading one to wonder whether there's an implicit message in the apparent mismatch. It's even more curious because of the frequency with which it happens in Lucia, unlike the aria "O mio babbino caro" in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. In the latter case, the incongruity is a surprisingly sentimental two or three minutes in about 50 of opera buffa. Critics call the aria malapropos, while defenders cite its value as a chance for the audience to catch its breath. Into Lucia, however, Donizetti has put so many mismatches that the device, if it be a device, sometimes feels antagonistic.
Eglise Gutierrez did justice both to the role of Lucia and to the bel canto style. She seemed nervous at times, but her coloratura voice had the brightness and agility to meet the technical demands, as well as the warmth and suppleness for the drama. Critics of the style have dismissed this and other bel canto operas as vehicles for meaningless coloratura indulgence, or as exercises in empty vocalization. I have to admit that Gutierrez did indulge herself and her audience, but her ornamentation achieved the desired effect without nudging her singing out of balance, when the flourishes might have become excessive or distracting.
Nary a hint of breathiness in her singing, Gutierrez' sound was solid and clean. Although I'd have preferred a bit more substance on the highest notes, just for reassurance that she wasn't on the verge of screeching, her vocal acrobatics met with thunderous acclamation from the audience. Still, I had the vague impression that throughout her performance, she was restraining herself both musically and dramatically.
The other singers carried their roles well. As Raimondo the chaplain, bass Alain Coulombe deserves special mention inasmuch as his was easily the most imposing and engaging male voice in the cast. Although he boomed and resonated as a respectable bass should, there was refreshing nuance and delicacy in his singing. Jorge Lagunes, who sang the role of Enrico, convinced me of his detestable character's indifference, albeit not wholly unmoderated, to Lucia's anguish.
Compliments go also to Steven White and the orchestra for the lightness of their playing. They made the music seem to glide through the evening, even in the darker moments, when, as I said above, the suitability of Donizetti's music is debatable. They were true to the musical style of this opera, and I appreciate their not having tried to thicken the sound in order to force the melodrama.