Lucia di Lammermoor

The Herald Sun
22 June 2007
Sybil Nolan [reviewer]

Musically and dramatically, Lucia di Lammermoor is up there with the best of 19th Century opera.

The story, after Walter Scott's novel, of a Scottish bride forced to marry an English lord, is romantically appealing yet pleasingly uncomplicated.

Donizetti's score and a libretto by Cammarano fuse with operatic integrity, one beautiful tune unfolding seamlessly into the next and the dramatic tension growing apace.

So why don't we see this opera staged more often? Perhaps Joan Sutherland's famous rendition of Lucia set a benchmark that still deters local divas.

In this welcome production by Melbourne City Opera, three sopranos share the title role over four nights - Suzanne Donald, Maxine Montgomery and Suzanne Shakespeare. At different stages of their careers, with different strengths and weaknesses, all are legitimate casting choices.

On opening night we had Donald, an expressive singer with a secure bel canto technique. She excels at playing the sort of slightly wilted, but still dramatically interesting heroine who triumphs against the odds to make a fabulous love match, only to see it snatched away by circumstances beyond her control.

She does a terrific Violetta in La Traviata and makes a convincing and sympathetic Lucia. Only a few rough phrases at the bottom of her register let her down in the difficult coloratura singing of the mad scene.

Ian Cousins was commanding as Enrico, producing the most dramatically and vocally centred performance of the night.

Tenor Lawrence Allen as Lucia's true love, Edgardo, was in warm, secure voice and sang his own demise particularly effectively.

With conductor Douglas Heywood keeping orchestra and chorus on a very tight rein, this was a commendable performance.