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Vancouver Opera Lucia di Lammermoor In Italian with English SURTITLES™ Music by Gaetano Donizetti Libretto by Salvatore Cammarano after Sir Walter Scott Dates and Venue 4, 7, 9, 11 December 2010 at 7.30 pm | Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver Lucia Eglise Gutierrez Edgardo Michael Fabiano Enrico Gregory Dahl Raimondo Burak Bilgili Normanno John Arsenault Alisa Dionne Sellinger Arturo Buklaw Thomas Macleay Conductor Jonathan Darlington Director Amiel Gladstone Associate Conductor / Chorus Director Leslie Dala Set Designer Gerard Harland Lighting Designer David Fraser Stage Manager Sheila Munn Reviewer Elizabeth Paterson Breathtaking is the only word to describe Vancouver Opera’s current production of Lucia di Lammermoor, so rich is it in the synthesis of emotion and technique, in performance, in perspective, in artistry. Eglise Gutiérrez surpassed her glowing reputation, stopping the show with her first aria. She has a clear and glorious voice, agile and graceful and completely capable of meeting Donizetti’s vocal demands. And as well she is a first-rate singing actress. Her first-act depiction of the rather fey girl, head-over-heels.in love with her family’s enemy and with a head full of tales and fantasies was touching. Her disintegration from arguing with her brother to her final browbeaten submission was masterly but hardly prepared the way for her gripping mad scene. The dramatic variety and intense focus she brought to Lucia’s changes of mood held the audience in anticipation and horror. The men were equally strong. Gregory Dahl (Enrico, Lucia’s brother) instantly projected a character of strength and undisciplined anger. Michael Fabiano as Edgardo brought a fine passion to his part musically and dramatically. His clear, open tenor easily transmuted bel canto virtuosity into emotionally intense gold. Balancing the drama and madness of the three principals were more restrained but no less excellent performances from Dionne Sellinger as Alisa, Lucia’s companion and the only truly warm character, and Burak Bilgili as Raimondo, the family chaplain, an ambiguous character. Bilgili’s sonorous bass, vocal depth and stage presence suggest personal steadiness but Raimondo’s actions ultimately betray Lucia. John Arsenault was reliably solid as Normanno, Enrico’s man, and Thomas Macleay made an elegant Arturo, the ill-fated husband of Lucia. The chorus sang well throughout, always engaged with the music and involved with the action. The eye-catching set by Gerard Harland was a view of the castle from the perspective of someone looking straight up from the ground. Omnipresent and demanding it enveloped the Lammermoor family. A lowering forest from the same perspective continued the dark and brooding theme. The cast was conservatively dressed in period costume (the end of the 17th century), chiefly browns and russets for the landed gentry and the chorus, set off by dove-coloured silk for Arturo, black and white velvets for the lovers. David Fraser’s lighting brightened the general gloom from time to time with delicately tinted skies. Sometimes he surprised with lightning flashes. The straightforward and clear direction by Amiel Gladstone gave Donizetti’s gorgeous music pride of place. And what music. Jonathan Darlington led the orchestra with precision and sensitivity, balancing emotional intensity and technical virtuosity with skill and artistry. The celebrated duet between Lucia and the flute was astounding, the two voices completely fused, floating and ethereal. The plot boiling with murder and madness, the music rich in bel canto devices and technical perils makes Lucia di Lammermoor one of the quintessential operas in the repertoire and an entirely different sort of challenge than that Vancouver Opera undertook last year with Nixon in China or with this year’s completely new commission of Lillian Alling. Long may such challenges continue. © 2010 Elizabeth Paterson |
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