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Donizetti's Lucia di LammermoorTeatro dell'Opera di Roma April 2 - 12, 2015Photographs by Yasuko Kageyama, courtesy of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
This production was originally to have been directed by Luca Ronconi but he died a few weeks before the première so that others brought the production to completion. Bill Fawcett saw the production in Rome on April 8, 2015 and has written:- Considerable thought had gone into the set and staging. The first impressions were of a Victorian prison that emphasised the underlying starkness of the story while providing an unassertive backdrop that didn’t distract from the artists and the music. It was used to provide areas within which the exchanges between singers could be focussed. Although Ronconi had died before the production, his ideas had been faithfully implemented and the performance was, in a sense, dedicated to him. Jessica Pratt’s Lucia was excellently sung in a fluid and realistic realisation with no artificial hysteria and a mad scene that seem to flow naturally from what had gone before. The two main male singers were also very good but I was particularly taken withthe Raimondo of Carlo Cigni, as it is a part that is sometimes inadequately cast yet, as was brought out strongly here, is critical to the action. The chorus and orchestra contributed their part in a fine all round achievement. Cédric Manuel (ForumOpera.com, April 10, 2015) saw the performance with Maria Grazia Schiavo in the title role. He felt that the production had definitely suffered from Ronconi's death at the same time not giving us his final conception while restricting the team that took over. "Pour autant, il serait malhonnête de dire que cette mise en scène nous a enthousiasmé." One aspect of this was what he felt was the lack of direction of the singers. He had mixed feelings about the singers. "Marco Caria est un bon baryton, tout à fait adapté au rôle d’Enrico, très à l’aise dans les aigus, sonore sans écraser, mais assez peu nuancé et quelque peu fruste dans son jeu d’acteur, même si on lui demande de n’être qu’uniformément méchant. L’Edgardo de José Bros est en la matière plus caricatural encore...Mais quel manque de nuances ! ". However, "la Lucia de Maria Grazia Schiavo qu’ira le véritable triomphe de la soirée". He thought the chorus excellent and was particularly impressed by the conductor - "Roberto Abbado connaît sa Lucia, qu’il a dirigée partout et bien souvent. Il va droit à l’essentiel, sans traîner, attentif à ne pas couvrir les voix et les ensembles. Il est l’artisan de l’équilibre qui fait tout l’intérêt de cette représentation et qui consacre une fois de plus ce que l’on entend davantage que ce que l’on voit, même si dans l’ensemble on ne s’ennuie pas, ce qui reste tout de même l’essentiel…"
The Team
Enrico - Marco Caria Lucia - Jessica Pratt / Maria Grazia Schiavo (April 10) Edgardo - Stefano Secco / José Bros (April 10) Arturo - Alessandro Liberatore Raimondo - Carlo Cigni Alisa - Simge Büyükedes Normanno - Andrea Giovannini
Conductor - Roberto Abbado Original director - Luca Ronconi but as he had died the project was brought to completion by Direction - Ugo Tessitore Designer - Margherita Palli Costumes - Gabriele Mayer Lighting - Gianni Mantovanini
©Yasuko Kageyama/Teatro dell'Opera di Roma Normanno and chorus
©Yasuko Kageyama/Teatro dell'Opera di Roma Edgardo and Lucia
©Yasuko Kageyama/Teatro dell'Opera di Roma Enrico, Normanno and Lucia
©Yasuko Kageyama/Teatro dell'Opera di Roma Lucia
©Yasuko Kageyama/Teatro dell'Opera di Roma Confrontation (sextet) scene
©Yasuko Kageyama/Teatro dell'Opera di Roma Sleepwalking scene
©Yasuko Kageyama/Teatro dell'Opera di Roma Edgardo and the dead Lucia
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Page last updated: April 7, 2015
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