Donizetti - Lucie de Lammermoor (Opéra National de Lyon 2002)
by Don Kent
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ludovic Tezier, Marc Laho, Nicolas Cavallier, Patrizia Ciofi, Roberto AlagnaDirector: Don Kent
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); French (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); Italian (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Original Language)
Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 136 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-03-16
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: TDK DVD Video
Movie Reviews of Donizetti - Lucie de Lammermoor (Opéra National de Lyon 2002)
Movie Review: Magnificent production of the French "Lucia"
Summary: 5 Stars
In 1839 Donizetti reproduced his great success "Lucia di Lammermoor" for Paris. The opera was renamed "Lucie di Lammermoor." Besides translating the libretto to French, Donizetti inserted a new cavatina for Lucia. "Regnava nel silencio" was replaced with "Que n'avons nous des ailes." The original melody for the "new" cavatina was from a forgotten Donizetti opera "Rosmonda di Inghilterra." Donizetti also reworked the story slightly. Instead of a lady-in-waiting for Lucia Donizetti created the character of Gilbert, a Machiavellian spy type. Thus the first scena with Lucie takes on a more sinister foreboding tone.
The dvd is a performance from 2002 in Lyon. The recording's Lucie had Natalie Dessay, who was slated to be the revival's Lucie. Dessay completed the recording but developed nodes and had to cancel the run, so Patrizia Ciofi is the Lucie in the dvd performance. Alagna is the Edgard in both the recording and the dvd.
This dvd is one of those performances I would not want to be without, ever. The production manages to be both traditional and imaginative at the same time. The stark sets suggest a bleak medieval Scottish landscape. There is no prettified glamor here -- it's a violent, gory story and the production treats it as such.
Patrizia Ciofi may not be the GREATEST Lucia/Lucie on record, but from her first cavatina she's a disturbed, distraught woman. She is a tiny, thin woman, and suggests Lucie's delicacy. Her voice is smallish and crystalline, but never chirpy or monotonous. In the mad scene she takes the original keys (usually the scene is transposed to E so the soprano can end on a big E-flat). If I wanted to nitpick I would say that under pressure her voice can turn a bit glassy, and that she makes some funny facial expressions when she sings that the closeups don't flatter. But overall her Lucie is passionate, disturbed and pathetic.
Roberto Alagna is a controversial tenor. I happen to be a fan, because despite his obvious faults (questionable intonation, a tendency to sing forte rather than modulate his voice, incomplete training as he was largely self-taught), he sings with an innate passion and warmth that I find irreplaceable. His best moment is the final scene in the tomb, where he IMO steals the entire evening. His facility in the French language is also a big plus.
The role of Henry Ashton is fleshed out more in this production. Here he is not a stock villain, but also mentally disturbed and paranoid. Ludovic Tezier adds an almost demonic intensity to his scenes. His interaction with Lucie (leaning into her menacingly, then softly caressing her hair) implies a brother-sister relationship that is very troubled and abnormal.
The lighting could have been better -- the stage was naturally very dark, and at times the singers were totally covered in darkness. But these are minor complaints. I heartily recommend this performance.
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