Customer Reviews

Donizetti - Lucia di Lammermoor / Sutherland · Pavarotti · Milnes · Ghiaurov · ROH Covent Garden · Bonynge

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This, along with Sutherland's earlier recording are the definitive recordings of Donizetti's masterpiece. Sutherland combines both a gorgeous sound with phenomenal technique...THE most incredible technique in modern history. Only the legendary sopranos of Donizetti's time even hints at a Dramatic soprano with coloratura capabilities...and WHAT coloratura capabilities!!!! All trills, runs, staccato done to complete perfection on top of a warm beautiful spinto soprano sound. And of course the legendary high notes. Certainly no one can dispute the beauty of Sutherland's top notes, effortless, big, and sooooo clear! And of course her dramatic interpretation of Lucia is legendary. Few could argue her complete mastery of the leading role. I was at her Met debut as Lucia, and in the mad scene, she ran across the stage while attacking fiedishly difficult flights of coloratura! Sutherland received over 30 curtain calls. She is equally good here, which is to say the most amazing singing in memory.

First things first: this recording is truly complete, unlike many so-called "complete" LUCIA recordings. Callas may have helped to prove that Donizetti wrote a dramatic masterwork rather than an empty-headed star vehicle, but she always performed the traditional hacked-up version, so much less dark and grand than what Donizetti actually wrote. True, not all the "extra" music is great (in particular, the bass aria "Cedi, cedi" is somewhat commonplace), but it's all dramatically essential, filling out the supporting characters and revealing the brilliance of Donizetti's structural conception. Anyone wanting a LUCIA should definitely start with this uncut version...Now, about the performance. The knock on Joan Sutherland is that her diction was poor. Why this is considered a more heinous flaw than Callas's frequently ugly sound, I'll never know. Just as Callas was great despite her faults, Sutherland is great no matter how many consonants she swallows. Another knock on Sutherland is that she's not "characterful" enough, whatever that means. Baloney. Sutherland knew what today's singers usually forget--that the characterization is IN THE MUSIC, and that therefore the key to characterization is to sing the music as well as possible. (Of course, who today could sing the music as well as Sutherland? For that matter, there were few singers *before* Sutherland, at least in this century, who could sing this music so magnificently. She is unique.) In the beauty, power, and awesome technical control of her singing--her absolute committment to the music, to Donizetti--the character of Lucia comes across as thrillingly and fully as possible. This is a supreme performance, and here in 1971, she was at her best. The other superstar singers on this recording aren't quite on this level, but they all perform well. Best among them is Pavarotti, whose performance here is a reminder of how promising he was before he started marketing himself and abusing his voice. Here he is a perfect Donizetti tenor, and a fine match for Sutherland. He also gives a good characterization of the tormented Edgardo (who, as has been pointed out, is almost as deranged as Lucia). Sherrill Milnes could never resist the temptation to ham it up (listen to his idiotic snarl of "Leggi" as he hands the letter to Lucia), and his very "hard" sound is not to everyone's taste. But he is a convincing bad guy, and does well with Sutherland in their big duet. The gorgeous voice of Nicolai G. makes for a solid, if somewhat anonymous, Raimondo. Luxury casting is provided in the form of Ryland Davies, the excellent Ferrando of Solti's first "Cosi Fan Tutte" recording, as Arturo. Bonynge, while never the most technically accomplished of conductors, clearly loves and respects this music, and gives good support for the singers. Choral and orchestral work is good; the sound, as usual on Decca/London's opera recordings, is superb, with some nicely judged sound effects. This is, in other words, the greatest recording of one of the great masterworks of opera.

I bought this version of the opera because it was mentioned in the book Opera 101, and also because I love Sutherland and Pavarotti's singing. It's decadently gorgeous. I'm a lapdog for Donizetti (and bel canto in general) and he hits home runs with nearly every number in this opera. The heroine is a simpleminded patsy whose neck you want to wring for believing her brother's transparent lies, but Sutherland makes you care about her. I never found Dame Joan as good an actress as, say, Beverly Sills, but she acts here. The Mad Scene is more than the sum of its runs and trills--it has dramatic shape and logic.

Pavarotti sings Edgardo lusciously, Milnes is fiercely wicked as Enrico, and Ghiaurov sonorous as the dull Raimondo (but he gets some pulse-pounding mileage out of the music). I generally like Bonynge's conducting--he moves operas along at a good clip, but never loses the music.

If you like bel canto, if you like Donizetti, if you like Lucia, you'll like this recording. The sound is fine and you may find yourself--as I do--repeating tracks again and again, and singing lustily along.

Dame Joan Sutherland makes this Lucia special. I dare say the best there is. She is simple a miraculous singer with wonderful notes at her disposal that are well above high C. And she has the magnificent voice as well. I think one of the most beautiful voice in all of opera. But it's her technique that is unique. A heroic coloratura soprano with trills and and scales beyond approach. She is the kind of soprano that Donizetti and Bellini wrote their bel canto operas for. Pavorotti is also at his best here, his high notes ringing out brilliantly. This Lucis is historical. A must buy for every opera lover. A galaxy of stars.

Sutherland had the voice of the century. Know of any other TRUE dramatic coloratura soprano? Her Lucia is a monument to the lost art of bel canto. Callas help revive those operas earlier, but Callas is not bel canto, but BELT canto. I'm so tired of people putting Sutherland down because of her acting ability. Her awesome beauty of voice and technique is unequalled in this or any other century.

This is truly a majestic and captivating performance. All the singers are in top form and this is the best sung Lucia on record. It may not be the most dramatical but musically it has no rival.
Firstly, there is Dame Joan. She may have aged here from her first recording of the role in the 1960s but she has studied the role and she has learnt it. Her voice may not be very youthful but her performance is breath-taking and her high notes secure and riveting.
Then Luciano Pavarotti gives us a wonderful account of Edgardo. He possesses a wonderful instrument and uses it perfectly. Just listen to the last act and his duets with Dame Joan (most notably at the famous "verrano a te sull' aure...") and you will get my point...
Sherril Milnes for one more time shows us what a wonderful voice he has. A most notable example is his duet with Sutherland in Act II("Se tradirmi..."). It is the first time this duet was recorded at its original pitch-one tone higher than usual- and this is due to Sutherland's and Milnes' incredible voices.
Ghiaurov is exemplary as Raimondo and the supporting cast is quite good. Notice Huguette Tourangeau as Alisa(Tourangeau is Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda with Sutherland under Bonynge)
Bonynge's conducting is very good and he is in Donizetti's spirit.
So, I must recommend this set to everyone! It is incredible!!!

Sutherland is her typical flawless self here. But unbelievable as it is, there are two other Sutherland Lucias out there that are even better. I'm talking about the 1960 studio recording, and the phenomenal 1959 LIVE recording in which Sutherland collaborated with the great Tullio Serafin. Serafin was said to have given the great Dame a sixpense for every one of her perfect high E's. If that's the case, no wonder Sutherland got rich so quick! Buy all three of Dame Joan's Lucia's, as I have. But the 1959 LIVE recording remains the definitive recording of Sutherland signature role.

THis is the bottom line. There is a huge difference between the two most beloved prima donnas of the entire operatic universe. They have no other rivals, and they both shared the most prestigious title of absolute first lady...Prima Donna Assoluta.
First. Maria Callas, the complete technician with every pathos within her every breath! Yes, she has everything, technique, artistry, and brains. But she did not have the voice. It is at best a very average voice...sometimes even ugly to the ears. But what she did with it is phenomenal. She can make you forget that you are listening to an aria. She draws you to the action of the drama. But still...Callas may have the talent in voice the equivalance of Franz Lizst and Artur Rubinstein - but her inferior voice is comparable to a great pianist playing on an average upright piano instead of a steinway. She has all the technique and style, but a very average or evne inferior instument.
Joan Sutherland, the other diva, is the absolute reverse of Callas. She has the most spectacular instrument in the operatic universe. It is gorgeous in timbre, it is rich, it is huge, it is smooth and remarkably clear, all the way to a sublime high E or F. And her coloratura is without any rivals, that is a fact...no one can dispute that. Unfortunately she did not always her voice it the way it should be. She is no Callas. Yes, Sutherland's instrument is perfection, and so is her technique. And her singing is like a V. Horowitz playing on a steinway, but with no emotions! Yes, the feat is astonishing...but the fire is not always there. But still, the sound is superhuman.
I resolve this rivalry between the two opposite divas. I think they are both divine. I overlook Callas's less then perfect voice but divine interpretations, and I close my ear to Sutherland's droopy moments, and instead be blown away by superhuman vocal feats. Be moved to tears as Callas prays to the Madonna in Vissi d'arte, and get goose pimples when Sutherland displayes mind boggling pyrotechnics in "bel raggio" in Semiramide = hitting three high F's.
Feel fortunate that the two most fabulous divas in history are well documented in the archives, and stop fighting over whoever is the greatest...they are BOTH the greatest!! Like two flawless diamonds, Callas being a 50 carat pear shaped canary diamond of extraordinary color, while Sutherland is a D flawless 50 carat emerald cut diamond with ultimate brilliance...both priceless!!!

Dame Joan is at her late prime in this miraculous recording. The voice is strong and confident, and certainly vastly superior to her only rival in the bel canto reportoire, Maria Callas. Sutherland's vocalism is truely one of phenomenons of the operatic world, and she takes full advantage of Donizetti's difficult music. I fully believe that as Lucia, Sutherland proved herself as great as Callas as far as a singing actress, and far superior in the vocal department. This is a definitive recording indeed.

As a retired opera singer and a big fan of Dame Joan, I can highly recommend this recording. It captures La Stupenda in the middle of her legendary reign as Prima Donna Assoluta. She's in top shape here, and of course, Lucia's vocal line is no challedge for the great Diva. This is not only the best sung Lucia available, but the best acted one also. As for Dame Joan's famed diction...with a voice like that, who cares. There is no better recording of Donizetti's tragic heroine than this one.