Customer Reviews

Donizetti - Lucia di Lammermoor / Bonfadelli, Alvarez, Frontali, Olivieri, Palazzi, Fournillier, Genoa Opera

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

At the outset, with its many strengths and reltively few, but distracting flaws I liked this version a lot and recommend it to all lovers of good bel canto opera.

WEAKNESSES: There are basically two areas where this version stumbles: sets and staging. The distractions are not constant, but when they occur, they are disruptive. For example, in the Act I duet between Edgardo and Lucia, there is a lot of unnecessary business with the singers' tartan cloaks. There are some really strange staging effects in the opening chorus, and some characters are running around in Prussian Army coats and headgear, which do not come into existance for many years.

STRENGTHS:
1. This is a complete performance with no cuts. Enrico sings both choruses of his Act I cabaletta, and the Act II, Scene i duet between Enrico and edgardo is done here.

2. The performers can sing and act.
I like Stefania Bonfadelli; She is a believeable Lucia. Sure, there have been several sopranos who deliver a better vocal performance (Sutherland, Moffo and Caballe come to mind), but Bonfadelli delivers a solid interpretation of a young, emotionally unstable woman. Her vocal interpretaion is excellent, with excellent production from bottom to top with never a sign of fatigue.
I also liked Alvarez interpretation of Edgardo. He is vocally fantastic, and does an excellent acting job.
Robert Frontali is a solid Enrico and Mirco Palazzi as Raimondo, has a lovely voice, although this padre must be a recent graduate of divinity school, because he is very young for the role.
Because Bonfadelli and Alvarez are also relatively young, they make their performances more believeable than watching performers who are well into middle age try to project qualities that they no longer possess.
3. THE CONDUCTOR:
Patrick Fournillier conducts a performance that is definitive. Tempi, shading, etc., are all near perfect.
4. DISC QUALITY:
In a word, splendid. The picture quality is first rate, and with the DTS option engaged, folks down the block can also enjoy the sound. TDK is continuing to roll out high quality opera for the home viewer.

CONCLUSION:
The best way I can express information to the potential buyer is to state whether a disc gets played every now and then, or gets repeated replays, because of the enjoyable experience of " re-attending" the performance. This Lucia will NOT languish on the shelf. With its shortcomings, it is still first rate opera.

Whether you'll want to own this opera depends I think on how you view opera on DVD. If you're only buying discs you'll want to watch again and again and again, there should be some better, classic recordings for you. But if you are amassing a large collection and think 25 bucks isn't outrageous for an evening's enjoyment (compared to, say, a dinner out that disappoints, money wasted at the bar, or even a bummer of a trip to the opera house at three times the price), getting this makes sense.

The production has drawn some criticism from other reviewers. I generally liked it. It complements the characters' personalities, and, as the product description above states, it was intended not to stand on its own, but rather focus attention on the principals and the drama. I don't think I would agree that it's insufficiently dark. In point of fact, and I may be bordering on heresy here, for an opera whose plot is quite dark, the music isn't always so. In any event, the staging is quite dark throughout, and the near-constant full moon works well. The chorus is nearly a pack of zombies, though when backing the principals, they sound strong enough.

Alvarez is terrific. His voice has a wonderful quality, and his portrayal is suitably dramatic without exaggeration. The latter can work on stage, but in the close-ups integral to DVD, it can seem out of place, as it does to some extent with Bonfadelli's mad scene. I also thought once or twice that she was shrill (though to my mind it's only the superlative soprano that can escape this criticism).

The Raimondo, as another reviewer pointed out, is quite good, especially in the final 40 minutes or so. Orchestra and conductor are faultless.

The main singers are all terrific in this video. Bonfadelli as Lucia is a delight, and very pretty. She has a darker voice than you generally hear in this role, but it is not super-dark, and her high notes are rock-solid. Alvarez' voice is gorgeous and he sings with great passion becoming Edgardo. The Enrico has a very strong voice and solid high notes and his facial expressions remind me of Renato Bruson - not as pretty of a voice as Bruson's, but pleasant enough and easy to hear. The Chaplain has a beautiful voice and is a good singer. The Normanno (captain of the guard), isn't as good as the principles; the Arturo, with his handful of lines, is awful; and the Alisa (Lucia's companion), is quite good.

The sets are pretty enough and the costumes generally French-style. It appears that at some point, someone in the costumes department realized this opera is set in Scotland and so they ran out and picked up some plaid horse blankets from the local feed store, and some 'blanket choreography' was thrown in to convince us these are real Scottish tartans - kind of distracting and also humorous.

All the singers look good in the show, except Alvarez, who is over-weight, and made to wear the long, slicked-back mullet-style wig he is often saddled with. Too bad - his hair is probably his greatest natural feature.

I have watched this dvd two or three times and played it as an audio recording countless times and am very glad I purchased it.

After viewing this DVD, I agree with those who give it praise. Stefania Bonfadelli is the perfect fragile, mentally unbalanced Lucia and she sounds almost superhuman as she navigates all the coloratura in this role. Marcello Alvarez is equally thrilling as Edgardo. The production is quasi-traditional and unconventional with sliding panels revealing different parts of the stage action. When Lucia emerges for the mad scene, she is centered in a box that gradually increase in size to show the whole stage. Different, but effective. I have only minor quibbles, such as Cristiano Olivieri's tinny sound as Arturo and Alvarez's poorly applied wig, which does not withstand the scrutiny of close-ups. I very much enjoyed this, and I recommend it to those looking for a memorable performance worthy of repeat watchings.

This production of Lucia is not the best there is. The acting is great and the set is very unique; however, the singing is not so good. Bonfadelli's voice is fine, just not suited for this particular role (in my opinion). The dynamic range of Bonfadelli's voice is not that great...there are many chances for beautiful, controlled pianissimo singing and it just doesn't happen. I think that the phrasing and breathing could have been a little more accurate. In the "Mad Scene" the staccato notes are good but the legato phrasing is a bit chopy. As I mentioned earlier, the acting is good, the facial expressions and mannerisms are very good, but the voice does not reflect what we see. I would highly recommend purchasing the French version LUCIE with Patrizia Ciofi...her voice is stunning and the acting is done very tastefully and holds true to the character. The French version is slightly different but still very pleasing to listen to.

Las opciones belcantistas en el mercado del dvd son escasas y por lo general no del todo satisfactorias. Por ello, conviene alegrarse ante la aparicion de esta version de 'Lucia di Lamermoor' de Gaetano Donizetti, grabada en Génova en Junio de 2003 con un reparto de primera clase.
En el papel de la heroina Lucia, STEFANIA BONFADELLI recupera la tradicion de usar para este rol una soprano lirico-ligera con buenos, en lugar de las ligeras puras que suelen interpretar este papel. La eleccion es acertadisima: una voz con cuerpo en el centro, que es capaz de asumir las multiples coloraturas que se le exigen sin el menor problema y de forma brillante. Si su 'Regnava nell silenzio', ya es muy notable, su escena de la locura (recibida por el publico con una sonada ovacion) es de un nivel altisimo, y como actriz enfoca a Lucia como un ser psicologicamente inestable desde el comienzo, que acaba derrumbandose al final. Toda una creacion de esta soprano. Como Edgardo se presenta el tenor MARCELO ALVAREZ, que, pese a alguna tirantez en el registro agudo (solo a veces, porque generalmente lo emite de forma generosa), canta con mucho gusto y con una voz muy bella. Su escena final es de nivel, y como actor construye un personaje adecuadamente apasionado. Notable.
El baritono ROBERTO FRONTALI es un Enrico autoritario y bien cantado dentro de la tradicion belcantista, y el bajo MARCO PALAZZI es una agradable sorpresa como Raimondo, tanto en lo vocal como en lo escenico. El reparto lo completan de manera mas bien discreta (aunque siempre dentro de la correccion) GIOVANNI MAINI (Normanno), CRISTIANO OLIVIERI (Arturo) y MARIA CASTELLI (Alisa).
El maestro PATRICK FOURNILLER, demuestra ser conocedor del estilo, con una buena lectura ante unos cuerpos estables de la Opera de Genova que responden de forma adecuada.
La produccion de GRAHAM VICK (que ya pudo verse en España en Madrid y Barcelona) es mas bien sosa, pero no molesta demasiado, y ante el nivel del canto y del drama, este dvd merece mucho la pena. Belcanto del bueno.

I seem to begin watching every opera nowadays with a critical eye, as I did this one. But, within a very short time, I was completely taken in. Roberto Frontali as Enrico was rivetting as a singer and villain. Stefania Bonfadelli, with her expressive doe-like eyes, was superb. She sang and acted the entire opera with unfading energy and precision. Her duet with the flute was magnificent. Her entire performance was magnificent. She deserves ten stars. Marcelo Alvarez as Edgardo exceeded my expectations, too. He was also excellent. The rest of the cast and the chorus were terrific also.

Highly recommended!

"What do you go for,
Go see a show for?
Tell the truth, you go to see those beautiful dames."

My Dubin rule for opera - get on with it and get the soprano back out. This DVD looks great, sounds great, and Bonfadelli fills all my soprano dopamine receptors.

I only wish I could read spanish and have read the first reveiwers comments, perhaps he warned us!? Not much I can say but DISAPOINTED!! LUCIA is one of my favorite operas, hard to go wrong, but... Nothing works. Staging is so bland it's nearly non-existant. I understand the purple/lavender colors of the scottish heather, but the set is so techincolor and red most of the time the set looks like the field of poppies from "The Wizard of Oz' so much so that you begin to look for the yellow brick road! Terribly distacting, so bright.. this is a DARK opera. Acting is also overblown, beyond old fashioned, it's simply childish. I had reservations about Bonfadelli in the role, and they held true.. too thin in voice. Now, don't get me wrong, I can take a light 'canary' soprano in this role anyday, but by thin I mean colorless and expressionless. The high E-flats were flung out and though each got progressivly more accurate, they were not pleasing. The flute cadenza chosen did little to strengthen her effect. Alvarez who I generally like (I'm really not as peticular as I sound, I'm very forgiving) was not in his best form. He progressivly got stronger as the evening wore on and finished with a decent tomb scene. As sad as it sounds, I'd have to give 1st place in this performance to the Raimondo (on the young side for a Raimondo). Of course, no one listens to LUCIA for the priest. I couldn't be more disapointed. I've been waiting on a GOOD video LUICA for years.. Too bad they didn't record June Anderson's many years ago OR that we missed Natalie Dessay's LUCIE .. However, my dislike of french versions, the French LUCIE IS the BEST on video at the moment, VERY strongly directed and great "feel" for what it's all about. Pass on this one though would be my recommendation.