In the garden of Runvenswood, owned by Lord Enrico Ashton, the military picket along with Norman was looking for one person. While the guard was looking for a man, Enrico told Norman and Raimondo about the difficult situations that had developed in his life. The lord hoped to rectify his situation by marrying Lucia to a wealthy man named Lord Arturo Bucklow. Lucia did not want to marry the lord. Norman said with a sneer that the reason could be love for another person. He told Enrico how a young man saved his sister from a mad bull. A rumor spread in the city that Lucia was secretly seeing a guy in this garden. That hero of Lucia was the enemy of Enrico Edgardo of Ravenswood. At this time, the military reported that they saw the stranger, but could not catch him. According to the description, it was Edgardo.

At this time, Lucia de Lammermoor was sitting at the fountain and telling her close friend Alice a story about a mysterious fountain. A friend, on the contrary, demanded to part with Edgardo. But the girl was very in love and did not want to part with him. Then Edgardo came and said that he was leaving for France. Before leaving, he wanted to see Enrico and make peace, also ask Lucia's hand in marriage. The girl agrees and they exchange rings.

At the Lammermoor Palace, Enrico talks to Norman. Enrico intercepted all the letters that Edgardo sent. One letter was rewritten and given into the hands of Lucia. The girl found out that her lover had married another woman and completely forgot her. Lucia was in despair, did not resist the instructions of her brother. Lord Arturo has arrived at the palace. He swore an oath of loyalty that day and they signed a marriage contract. At the signing ceremony, Edgardo invades the hall, dressed in a black cloak. He made a scandal, then Raimondo showed him marriage contract... In anger, he did not listen to Lucia's excuses. Then Edgardo left the hall.

After the end of the marriage, Enrico came to Edgardo to humiliate him by telling him about the details of the wedding ceremony. Edgardo, out of anger, assigns Enrico a duel in the cemetery. During the wedding, all guests feast and have fun. At the wedding, maddened, Lucia stabbed her newly-made spouse with a sword. All the guests fled, and Lucia, sword in hand, recalled the joyful moments spent with Edgardo. At this time, Edgardo wandered through the cemetery and heard the ringing of bells. He realized that Lucia was faithful to him. Before being attacked by Raimondo, a guy in love stabbed himself with a sword.

Picture or drawing by Donizetti by Lucia di Lammermoor

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G. Donizetti opera "Lucia di Lammermoor"

For twenty-seven years of creativity, Gaetano Donizetti wrote more than 70 operas. Their fates were different - some were forgotten right after the premiere performances, and some provided themselves with life for centuries. Among the latter is "", which has become the standard of the bel canto era and is one of the thirty most performed operas in the world.

Summary of the opera Donizetti "Lucia di Lammermoor" and many interesting facts about this work read on our page.

Characters		Description
Lord Enrico Ashton	baritone	nobleman of Lammermoor
Lucia	soprano	his sister
Sir Edgardo Ravenswood	tenor	Lucia's lover, Ashton's nemesis
Lord Arturo Bucklow	tenor	powerful man, fiancé of Lucia
Raimondo Bidebent	bass	priest and teacher of Lucia
Normanno	tenor	Chief of Security at Ravenswood Castle
Alice	mezzo-soprano	Lucia's companion

Summary of "Lucia di Lammermoor"

Scotland, late 17th century.

Ravenswood Castle, owned for centuries by the Edgardo family, is now taken over by Lord Ashton. Normanno found out that a stranger had sneaked into the garden and started looking for him. Ashton complains to Bidebent that his financial affairs are now very bad, and he plans to improve them through Lucia's marriage to Lord Barclaw, but the girl stubbornly resists the marriage. The guards report that the stranger fled, but they recognized him - it was Edgardo, who, as Normanno adds, visits Lucia every morning. Ashton understands the reason for his sister's disobedience and is determined to harshly end this relationship.

Lucia goes for a walk with Alice and tells her the legend that one of the Ravenswoods once killed his beloved in this garden. Lucia saw the ghost of this girl and the bloody water in the fountain. Alice thinks these are bad omens. Edgardo appears, he is forced to leave, so he says goodbye to Lucia, assuring her of his love. The couple exchange rings as a sign of loyalty to each other.

Ashton organized a celebration to mark the wedding of Lucia and Lord Bucklow. The guests are already on the doorstep, but the girl still has not agreed to the marriage. Then her brother shows her a fake letter, in which Edgardo is convicted of treason. Shocked by the betrayal of her beloved, Lucia agrees to marry. At the moment of signing the marriage contract, Edgardo bursts in. He accuses the girl of breaking her oath and returns the ring to her.

The wedding audience had not yet dispersed when a shocked Bidebent came out to them. He reported that Lucia had gone mad and stabbed her husband to death. Soon she appears herself - in a bloody shirt with a dagger in her hand. She raves and talks with an imaginary Edgardo, then dreaming that she married him, then calling her brother by his name, then asking him for forgiveness for being forced to become the wife of another. Edgardo had not yet left the castle. Learning about what happened, he rushes to his beloved, but she dies in the arms of Bidebent. Desperate, Edgardo plunges a dagger into himself.

Photo

Interesting Facts

• Donizetti worked very quickly, completing some of the operas in 10 days. From the previous work, "Marino Faliero", "Lucia de Lammermoor" are separated by only six months.
• Salvatore Cammarano wrote the libretto for seven more operas Donizetti , including "Roberto Devero" (1837) and "Polievkt" (1840), and was also one of the constant co-authors Giuseppe Verdi , they created 4 operas: "Alzira" (1845), "Battle of Legnano" (1849), " Louise Miller "(1849) and" Troubadour "(1853). Cammarano also wrote the libretto King Lear for Verdi, the music for which was never written. A. Royer and G. Vaez, who worked on the French version of Lucia di Lammermoor, subsequently created the texts of The Favorite (1840) and Don Pasquale (1843). They also managed to work with Verdi on his debut Parisian opera Jerusalem (1847), which was a reworking of The Lombards in the First Crusade, released at La Scala four years earlier.
• W. Scott's novel is based on real events.
• In the 19th century, Walter Scott's novels were very popular as plots for operas - they had historical plots full of excitement, adventure and love intrigue. Before Donizetti, The Lammermoor Bride, written in 1819, was used to create at least 6 operas.
• It was Lucia de Lammermoor that approved Donizetti as the leading composer of Italian opera - D. Rossini by that time he had retired from musical activity, and V. Bellini died shortly before the premiere. Despite the fact that during the years of his triumph (1835-1844) the maestro lived mainly in Paris, he did not concede his leadership to anyone, and only with his departure from music this place was taken by D. Verdi, who was gaining creative power.
• In Lucia's scene of madness, Donizetti's original score provides the accompaniment of such a rare instrument as the glass harmonica. Due to the fact that not every orchestra can ensure its availability, the part of the harmonica is most often performed by the flute.

• In January 2009, Anna Netrebko returned to the stage with the part of Lucia performed at the Mariinsky Theater after a break due to the birth of her son. A few weeks later, the return took place at a performance at the Metropolitan Opera. But the sensation of that evening was not so much the premiere of Netrebko (which, by the way, the critics and the public appreciated very reservedly), but the problems with the voice of her partner, Rolando Villazon. It was also his first opera season after a year and a half of silence due to illness. And already on the first "Lucia" the voice let him down again - the singer tore off the aria, went into a cough and with difficulty brought the scene to the end. Despite his condition, after the intermission, Villazon did not use the help of an understudy, but finished his part with dignity, which won over all those gathered in the hall.
• Today, Lucia di Lammermoor is Donizetti's second most performed opera after Love drink ". On world stages, she sounds twice as often as “ The Queen of Spades "Tchaikovsky or" Lohengrin "Wagner.
• Maria Callas performed Lucia's madness scene as it was written - in the key of F major, adding minimal ornamentation to the interpretation. While many sopranos try to show all their vocal capabilities in this part, as was customary in the era of bel canto.
  

The best performances from the opera "Lucia di Lammermoor"

"Il dolce suono ... Spargi d" amaro pianto "- Lucia's madness scene (listen)

"Tu che a Dio spiegasti l" ali "- Edgardo's aria (listen)

"Regnava nel silenzio ... Quando rapito in estasi" - Lucia's aria (listen)

The history of the creation and production of "Lucia di Lammermoor"

The beginning of the 1830s was a successful period for Donizetti - he wrote the best operas: "Anne Boleyn" (1830), "Love Potion" (1832), "Lucrezia Borgia" (1833), "Mary Stuart" (1934). Their glory was intended to strengthen new job masters - "Lucia di Lammermoor". The plot was based on the then popular novel by W. Scott "Lammermoor Bride". The composer entrusted the writing of the text to the Neapolitan Salvatore Cammarano. He significantly reworked the original source, discarding many plot details - the focus of attention is focused exclusively on the love line.

The heroes of the opera are typical works of the romantic era of bel canto. In the center is an innocently suffering heroine, whose part was written for masterly performance by a coloratura soprano, next to her is her ardent lover, certainly a lyric tenor. And also baritone and bass, acting in the roles of ill-wisher and senior ally.

The premiere took place on September 26, 1835 at the main theater of Naples - San Carlo. The incredible success was due not only to the magnificent musical material and an exciting plot, but also to the brilliant cast of performers - the famous diva Fanny Takinardi-Persiani, the famous tenor and composer's friend Gilbert Dupre, the baritone Domenico Cosselli.

The first performer of the role of Lucia made changes to it, which in subsequent productions began to be used everywhere. For example, thanks to the transposition of the vocal part in the scene of madness a tone lower, Tacchinardi-Persiani achieved a greater effect in the performance of high notes, thereby turning not only this dramatic episode, but the whole role into the emotional center of the opera, which even supplanted the final scene - Edgardo's suicide. This is partly justified by the fact that the conditions of the bel canto opera dictate just such an ending - a grandiose scene of madness and the death of the title character. Donizetti decided to deviate from following this tradition, thanks to which the character of Edgardo acquired new qualities. The passionate and impetuous young hero in his final aria grows out of a romantic template, experiencing a true tragedy, anticipating pathos and dignity best heroes Verdi.

In 1839 the opera was staged in Paris with a new libretto in French. It was not just a translation, but a different version, created by the playwrights A. Royer and G. Vaez. Lucia became even more lonely - Alice was removed from the plot, Bidebent became a character that was not so sympathetic to the girl. Bucklow's role, on the other hand, has increased; new hero, Gilbert, selling other people's secrets for money - to both Ashton and Ravenswood. French "Lucia" is not forgotten today. An audio recording of the 2002 Lyon performance with N. Dessay and R. Alanya has spread all over the world

The London premiere took place in 1838. In 1841, Lucia di Lammermoor set out to conquer the United States. In Russia, the opera was first performed by an Italian troupe in 1838. The St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater staged it in 1840.

Music of "Lucia di Lammermoor" in the cinema

Undoubtedly the most famous film featuring music from the opera is Luc Besson's The Fifth Element (1995). In one scene, the intergalactic Diva Plavalaguna sings Lucia's aria "Il dolce suono". The vocal image of the character was created by the Albanian soprano Inva Mula. Thanks to the computer processing of the singer's voice, Plavalaguna demonstrates truly outstanding singing abilities. The composer of the picture E. Serra was involved in the processing of Donizetti's music.

Among other paintings in which you can hear excerpts from the opera:

• Guardians of the Galaxy by D. Gann, 2014;
• "The Departed" M. Scorsese, 2006;
• "Madame Bovary" by C. Chabrol, 1991;
• “Where Angels Are Afraid to Tread” by Charles Sturridge, 1991;
• "May Days" by Z. Leonard, 1937.

Lucia di Lammermoor has undergone many screen adaptations, in which the leading masters of the opera stage took part:

• The performance of the Metropolitan Opera, 2009, directed by G. Halvorson, starring A. Netrebko, P. Bechala, M. Kvecheni;
• Performance of the San Francisco Opera, 2009, directed by F. Zamacon, starring N. Dessay, D. Filianoti, G. Vivani;
• The Metropolitan Opera performance, 1983, directed by K. Browning, starring D. Sutherland, A. Kraus, P. Elvira;
• Film by M. Lanfranchi, 1971, starring: A. Moffo, L. Kozma, D. Fioravanti;
• Film by P. Ballerini, 1946, starring N. Corradi, M. Filippeschi, A. Poli.

The era of bel canto is far behind, and today only a small number of operas of that time are performed. "" Is one of the best such examples. Its dramatic plot and impressive, memorable music have been gaining new admirers for almost two centuries, in both versions - both Italian and French.

Video: watch the opera Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti

The original name is Lucia di Lammermoor.

Opera in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a libretto (in Italian) by Salvatore Cammarano, based on the novel by Walter Scott, The Lammermoor Bride.

Characters:

LORD ENRIKO ASHTON LAMMERMURSKY (baritone)
LUCHIA, his sister (soprano)
ALICE, Lucia's companion (soprano or mezzo-soprano)
EDGARDO, owner of Ravenswood (tenor)
LORD ARTURO BUCKLOW (tenor)
RAIMONDO, chaplain of Lammermoor, tutor of Lucia (bass)
NORMAN, Commander of the Ravenswood garrison (tenor)

Time of action: 1669.
Location: Scotland.
First performance: Naples, Teatro San Carlo, September 26, 1835.

Walter Scott's novel "The Lammermoor Bride" is rarely read these days, since it is not one of his best creations. Nevertheless, it attracted the attention of opera composers as an opportunity-rich plot. And three composers - Bredal, Carafa and Mazzukato - used it even before Donizetti. None of the early operatic versions survived on the stage, and of all the works of Donizetti himself, this opera turned out to be the most frequently performed.

Donizetti was especially attracted to this plot, since one of his grandfathers, Donald Isett, was Scottish. However, for the purposes of the opera, the names of the Scottish characters have been judiciously changed to their more euphonious Italian equivalents. So, Lucy became Lucia, Henry - Enrico, Edgar - Edgardo; but the names of the places where the opera takes place have remained the same. In addition to the required cuts, a few other changes were made. For example, Scott's Edgar ends his life in a highly unoperative way - he races wildly on his horse in quicksand. No tenor could have sung two long arias ending in upper D flat under similar circumstances. Thus, Donizetti's Edgardo, therefore, quite reasonably strikes himself with a dagger instead of riding a horse. With this outcome, the Italian tenor has a significant advantage. The final aria, by the way, is one of the best, written by Donizetti, was hastily composed and recorded in just an hour and a half, when the composer suffered terribly from a headache.

But first and foremost, this opera is an excellent means of demonstrating the talent of not so much a tenor as a soprano, and many great singers have chosen it for their debut in New York. Among them are Adeline Patti, Marcella Zembrich, Nelly Melba, Maria Barrientos and Lily Pons. Two of them - Pons & Sembrich - also chose this role to celebrate their 25th anniversary of their Metropolitan Opera debuts.

ACTION I
DEPARTURE

Scene 1. In the garden of Ravenswood Castle, now captured by Lord Enrico Ashton, a detachment of guards under the command of Norman is looking for a man who sneaked here. While this search and inspection of each bush and grotto is going on, Enrico himself tells Norman, as well as Lucia's teacher, Chaplain Raimondo, about the difficult circumstances in which he now finds himself. He hopes to correct them by arranging the marriage of his sister Lucia to the rich and powerful Lord Arturo Bucklow, who is greatly favored by the monarch. Unfortunately, Lucia is unwilling to participate in this. Norman, who has a suspicion about the reason for this reluctance of Lucia, mockingly says that it lies in Lucia's love for another. And he tells how one day a stranger saved her from a raging bull and that since then she secretly meets with her savior every morning in this garden. The stranger Norman spoke of is none other than Edgardo of Ravenswood, Enrico's nemesis.

At this moment, a detachment of guards returns. The guards spotted the stranger, but were unable to apprehend him. However, they definitely confirm that it is Edgardo. Enrico is seized with a thirst for revenge ("Cruda funesta smania" - "Wild thirst for revenge"). With all his malice, he expresses his hatred for the man who is the nemesis of his family, who threatens to ruin his plans for a profitable marriage to Lucia.

Scene 2 is preceded by a completely delightful harp solo - perhaps painting the park where the scene takes place, or perhaps two lovely women sitting by a fountain engrossed in frank conversation. Lucia di Lammermoor tells her friend Alice a mysterious story about this fountain, and she, in turn, strongly advises her to stop seeing her beloved Edgardo, whom she meets in this garden. But Lucia defends her love for Edgardo and enthusiastically sings him. The story of the fountain is told in a gentle flowing melody ("Regnava nel silenzio" - "A quiet night reigned around"), her love is sung in an aria ("Quando rapita in estasi").

When Edgardo himself enters to meet his beloved, Alice tactfully leaves. He is obliged, he says to Lucia, to go to France; but before setting off, he would like to make peace with Enrico, tell him of his love for Lucia and ask for her hand in marriage. This plan scares Lucia, and she begs her lover not to do it. Edgardo bitterly lists the reasons that he has to hate Ashton, but the scene ends with a wonderful farewell love duet ("Verrando a te sull`aure" - "To you on the wings of the wind"), in which first Lucia, then Edgardo and finally together they sing one of the most wonderful melodies in this extraordinarily melodic opera. The lovers exchange rings and part.

ACTION II
MARRIAGE CONTRACT

Scene 1. From a conversation between Enrico and Norman, which takes place in the lobby of Lammermoor castle, we learn that all of Edgardo's letters to Lucia were intercepted. In addition, one letter was falsified to show her that Edgardo had cheated on her and is now married to another woman. When Norman leaves, Enrico uses every reason to convince his sister to marry Lord Arturo Bucklow. He completely breaks her heart when he shows her the fake letter, and adds that it is her duty to her family to marry this powerful man who loves her so much. Poor Lucia never agreed to this marriage, but now she is so depressed that she has no strength to resist.

Scene 2. As a matter of fact, Lord Arturo is already in the castle, and the next scene takes place in the great hall. The festive choir sings, Arturo swears allegiance, and when Lucia appears (she is still in tears), the marriage contract is signed.

It was at this moment that a stranger, tightly wrapped in a cloak, bursts into the hall. This is Edgardo, back from France. He tries to claim his rights to Lucia, but Raimondo shows him a signed marriage contract. In a rage, he sees nothing but this contract, does not hear any explanations from Lucia. His enemies draw their swords. And only thanks to the intervention of the devoted old educator Lucia, the chaplain Raimondo, is it possible to avoid bloodshed at the wedding. In a fit of rage, Edgardo throws and tramples the ring ("Maledetto sia istante" - "Damn that unfortunate day"). In the sextet, all the main characters, not to mention the wedding choir of the guests, express their conflicting emotions. This ensemble makes a deafening impression. Eventually, an enraged Edgardo leaves the hall.

ACTION III

Scene 1. Immediately after the wedding. Enrico visits Edgardo in his secluded room in the Wolfscrag tower to denigrate and humiliate him and to deliberately inflict a fit of rage in him with the details of the wedding ceremony. The two men openly blame each other and, in the final duet of this scene, agree to a duel that is assigned to the Ravenswood gravestone cemetery. When an opera is performed, this scene is usually omitted.

Scene 2. The guests gathered for the wedding are still feasting in the grand hall of the castle when Raimondo, Lucia's mentor, interrupts the general fun. Lucia, he declares in a voice cracked with horror, maddened, stabbed her husband with his own sword ("Dalle stanze ove Lucia" - "From the chambers, where are the spouses").

In the next instant, Lucia herself appears. The guests, overwhelmed with horror, part. She is still in white wedding clothes, deathly pale, almost like a ghost. She has a sword in her hand. The famous "Scene of Madness" follows ("II dolce suono mi colpi di sua voce" - "I heard his dear voice"). Lucia dreams that she is still with Edgardo; she recalls the happiest days of her past, imagines that she is marrying him. And at the end of this scene, realizing that death is near, she promises to wait for him.

Scene 3 takes us outside the castle, where Edgardo wanders among the tombstones of his ancestors. He is inconsolable. The approaching funeral procession interrupts his grim philosophizing. He asks who is being buried and finds out what terrible events happened. The funeral bells are ringing. This is a ringing for Lucia. Only now does he realize that she has always been faithful to him. He sings his final "Goodbye!" ("Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali" - "You, flying off to the sky") and then, before Raimondo can stop him, plunges a dagger into his heart. Together with the cello playing the melody, he sings his last words of farewell with his last breath.

Postscriptum regarding the historical circumstances of this plot. Walter Scott's novel "The Lammermoor Bride" is based on the circumstances of the actual wedding contract that led to the tragedy that occurred in Scotland in 1669. Jeanette Dalrymple (Lucia) killed her new husband, David Dunbar (Arturo), to whom she was forcibly married by her father, Viscount Stair (Enrico), instead of being given to her beloved Lord Rutherford (Edgardo). In real life, the unfortunate admirer was the bride's uncle.

Henry W. Simon (translated by A. Maykapar)

	Photo by Valery Melnikov / Kommersant
	Sergey Khodnev. ... "Lucia di Lammermoor" at the Musteater ( Kommersant, 17.2.2009). Julia Bederova. ... "Lucia di Lammermoor" at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater ( Vremya Novostei, 16.2.2009). Marina Gaikovich. Premiere of Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermoor ( NG, 16.2.2009). Irina Muravyova. ... The Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater staged "Lucia di Lammermoor" ( RG, 17.2.2009). Peter Pospelov. ... Donizetti's opera was staged at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater as a poem about a traditional opera performance ( Vedomosti, 17.2.2009). Ekaterina Biryukova. ... Beautiful oases of the opera past delight the eye, tired of the garbage dumps of modern directing ( OpenSpace.ru, 17.2.2009). Elena Cheremnykh. ( INFOX.ru, 14.2.2009). Leila Guchmazova. ... At the MAMT named after K. S. Stanislavsky and Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko staged "Lucia di Lammermoor" ( Results, 23.2.2009).

Lucia di Lammermoor. Musical Theater named after Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko. Press about the performance

Kommersant, 17 February 2009

Genuine tinsel

"Lucia di Lammermoor" at the Musteater

The Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater presented the premiere of Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermoor. One of the most famous operas of the first half of the 19th century was staged by the famous drama director Adolph Shapiro, and the title role in the premiere was sung by the theater's prima donna Khibla Gerzmava. The performance is assessed by SERGEY KHODNEV.

Like many bel canto operas, Lucia di Lammermoor is, in principle, extremely scenic. Oaths of love and vows to take revenge, the insidiousness of relatives imposing a political marriage on the protagonist, the madness of the same heroine, who is in the middle of the wedding party from head to toe in the blood of her murdered husband, the final suicide of the hero-lover - all these heartbreaking details borrowed from Walter Scott the plot, it would seem, is quite disposing material for the theater. But, on the other hand, you never know forgotten bloody dramas in opera literature, but the exclusive status of "Lucia di Lammermoor" is associated primarily with music, and above all with vocal music; from the drama and from the plot background, he is in a sense divorced. And it was no coincidence that, stepping on the literary source on his English throat, it was customary to name the characters written in Stuart's Scotland in the Italian way: Lucia, Edgardo, Enrico, Arturo.

In other words, without a well-realized musical aspect, the most ingenious production of Lucia is doomed to become a zilch. That is why the current production at the Stanislavsky Theater is not at all zilch, but rather a success, especially if we take into account the obvious unaccustomedness of our scenes to "Lucia" - in Moscow this opera was staged in the theater even under Nicholas I, and it was also sung then by Italians, our current singers with bel canto too often "on you". Khibla Gerzmava (on which the theater, taking on the opera, made the main stake) met most of the expectations, stylishly and accurately singing her part adorned with roulades, grace and top notes. Although, wherever possible, she preferred to sing in a full-bodied chest tone, and in general her part (as well as the role, by the way) was somewhat lacking in lightness, lyricism, and perhaps naivety. This strict, coldish Lucia was amusingly set off by Edgardo performed by Alexei Dolgov: as a result of the efforts of the young tenor, the part came out, though not always filigree in particular, but bright, colorful, fresh, with a full-bodied sound and rich timbre, almost lyric-spinto in character. The rest of the characters came out weaker, and as for the orchestra under the experienced direction of Wolf Gorelik, here the impressions are a little double, somewhere gracefulness and emotion were just right, and somewhere coarsely ground sound and agitation floated out.

And just not to interfere with the singers - this was one of the main intentions of the director presented in the play. The production with its rigid and neat geometric mise-en-scenes can be called both conventional and static, but the strategy chosen by the directors in its pure form, oddly enough, is rather promising. Adolph Shapiro decided not to break the canons, but rather respectfully and with a distance beat the traditional operatic conventions. The main stage design, built by the prominent Latvian theater artist Andris Freibergs, is a slightly squeezed and ironic model of the "scene" space: bare brick walls, in prominent places even central heating radiators flaunt. But in the middle of the whitewashed brick is a portal, which sometimes features picturesque backdrops. The scene in the garden, for example, is played out against the background of an amazingly dusty backdrop, in the middle of which a lantern "moon" shines touchingly: the dream of a spectator yearning for old opera performances with cardboard beauties and lush costumes.

The costumes invented by Elena Stepanova, by the way, also persistently respond to this dream - even too insistently for someone to take this magnificence at face value. There is even a feeling that they again went to meet the singers - they need something to occupy their hands during long static scenes, so let them stroke all these historical collars-cloaks-crinolines-swords with beautiful gestures. The mentor Lucia Raimondo (Dmitry Stepanovich) was even dressed up as a Dominican monk, even though it was happening in Calvinist Scotland; in a couple of scenes, the extras carry sparkling knightly armor. Somewhere the joint efforts of the director and the costume designer create a meaningful and successful effect, as with the appearance of Arturo (Sergei Balashov), unexpectedly outlined by such a Sir John Falstaff. Somewhere not very much - like in the wedding scene, where Lucia appears, dragging her house like a snail, a wedding veil, crucified on a giant bustle. The audience, however, almost more than all these beauties liked the live white horse, which the smart Edgardo takes with him when he goes on stage for the first time.

Vremya Novostei, February 16, 2009

Julia Bederova

Horse in the fog

"Lucia di Lammermoor" at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater

On the stage of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater in Moscow, "Lucia di Lammermoor" by Gaetano Donizetti has been staged - admittedly one of the main peaks of opera bel canto, passionately loved by star tenors and prima donnas, and at the same time having a difficult stage fate. "Lucia" has not been staged in Moscow for almost 100 years. In St. Petersburg, a play was recently staged under Anna Netrebko, and the stage performance, judging by the reviews of critics, remained nothing more than a background for the prima.

The Moscow play tried to solve the problem of the existence of truly sung bel cante parts on the stage in such a way that an artistic, intelligent theatrical action would also unfold around. The performance was staged by drama director Adolph Shapiro, debuting in the genre, in tandem with the loudly renowned opera set designer Andris Freibergs (from the fashionable and non-provincial Latvian National Opera) and costume designer Elena Stepanova. The performance, in the background of which is not only the precious beauty of bel canto, but also the wonderful Walter Scott, is conceived as a poetic quote and a conventionally historical show in a naive style. So - charming, not scary, poetic - it almost turned out, although some enumeration of naively touching angles, in which the public is presented with a highly enlarged romantic plot of "Lammermoor's Bride", by the end almost deprived it of its pleasant initial severity.

The action takes place within huge white walls with almost imperceptibly built-in cast-iron central heating radiators. An open square opening in the background is a window and a frame, which contains a beautifully done quote landscape painting. Fog, moon and dark alleys. The white-stone austerity of the frame is enlivened by the video birds and the videomore of the Latvian artist Katrina Neiburgi. The scenography is elegant, moderately conceptual and a little ironic, and this very nicely forms the furious plot bloody. A live white horse, cautiously entering the stage with Lucia's beloved Edgardo and proudly standing up against the background of dark picturesque fogs (the horse, by the way, plays an important role in Walter Scott's novel), looks not only magnificently operatic, but also absolutely charming. As well as her double - an iron horse with an iron knight, rolling out in the scene of the appearance of the unloved groom Arturo. The viewer seems to be invited to read this music, as children read Walter Scott - with a smile, tears and ecstasy. But, repeating the horses, spreading mimans around the stage in pot-bellied knightly armor and a chorus in conditional Scottish skirts and not very convincing jackets, and in the finale arranging something like a crucifixion for Lucia, the director and the artists still replay. The measure of touching irony, introducing magical naivety into the score, has not been fully calculated. Which does not negate the wit of the design, but still turns the game into playfulness.

Without jackets and a crucifix, the theatrical cut of the delicate and light Donizetti bel canto would have been simply jewelry. Moreover, the object of cutting in in this case deserves it. The Stanislavsky Theater production contains the main and vital elements for the production of Lucia - in fact, two main parts. In the premiere, Lucia was sung by the prima of the theater, one of the best Moscow sopranos and almost the only singer in Moscow who can cope with the pearl role, Khibla Gerzmava. She sang strictly and accurately, gently singing the most complex coloratura, almost flawlessly taking the top notes, decorating the part with warm vocal paint and without any strain drawing the main number of the program - a chilling madness. Gerzmava did not succeed in everything quite brilliantly, and there is not so much poetic magic in her Lucia as it is possible in this role. But nevertheless, this is a significant, established role.

There was noticeably less accuracy in the part of Alexei Dolgov (Edgardo), still a very young singer, terribly talented, promising a lot and very capable, but, it seems, did not have time to give his parts a thorough dressing. In the role of Edgardo, masking the slightly noticeable blur of a generally very beautiful and flexible voice, Dolgov took with crazy energy and even managed to steal a significant share of the diva's success.

It is difficult to say how convincing the performance can be with the second cast, but with the first (especially if we forgive theatricality for its exaggerated playfulness, as well as for the orchestra led by Wolf Gorelik for his completely inappropriate straightforward squareness and bravura, which has become, perhaps, the main drawback of the performance) the production looks by no means mediocre. That in our area and with this opera name is a serious achievement.

NG, February 16, 2009

Marina Gaikovich

Why is there a battery?

Premiere of Donizetti's opera "Lucia di Lammermoor"

The Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater presented the premiere of Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermoor staged by the famous director Adolphe Shapiro. This performance has once again demonstrated the helplessness of outstanding drama directors in working with the operatic genre.

If we consider Donizetti's opera as one of the finest examples of bel canto operas, where the main thing is to enjoy the stunning beauty of the vocal line and admire the enchanting coloratura in the parts of the title characters, then Shapiro's solution can be considered ideal. The singers "make a stand" (except that the arms on their chests do not fold, as on a concert stage) and literally carry themselves and their voices. It cannot be said that the characters' characters and the logical consequences of the psychological situations in which they find themselves are somehow especially developed. Feignedness is added by the fact that periodically individual characters climb on chairs or tables - like small children, when they want to demonstrate their first achievements in the field of singing or reading rhymes.

Probably, in the Italian opera of the time of Donizetti (that is, in the first half of the century before last) everything was so. The main thing in the theater was the presence of the prima donna, as well as the beautiful surroundings. Both are in the "Lucia di Lammermoor" sample of the XXI century: luxury dresses and hairstyles, cloaks, knights in armor (costume designer - Elena Stepanova), a statue of a condottiere (they say, straight from the Pushkin Museum) and even a luxurious white horse - Edgardo's companion. One gets the impression that this production is playing on the thesis "opera - conventional theater". Before us are types - lovers who face a long separation, a heartless brother who thinks only about saving his reputation, his insidious friend, inventing meanness in order to force Lucia to marry of convenience, a confidant with all her heart for her friend. The design move - central heating radiators separating the auditorium from the action on the stage, decided in the traditions of the era of Walter Scott. Another explanation for the original gesture of the artist Andris Freibergs does not come to mind.

The fragments themselves, where the director's hand is noticeable, are nevertheless present in this production. This is a picture of the meeting of Lord Arthur, built on "tricks": Enrico with servility looks at the iron horse and his rider-statue, and Arthur appears from a completely different angle; Lucia, in turn, appears from the wrong side where Arthur's gaze is directed. The groom himself is a colorful character: this is a narcissistic fanfare dude, who was brilliantly played by Sergei Balashov.

Of the surprises - the absence of, it would seem, logical for this concept of traditional blood stains on Lucia's night dress, just as there is no groaning insane: Lucia is absolutely aloof and cold. In the scene of madness, she appears in the form of a dove, with a huge voluminous train that resembles the body of a bird. Lucia takes off her gigantic cloak and remains in her nightgown - as if the soul had separated from the body. At the moment of the death of both heroes - Lucia and Edgardo - flying birds appear on the video projection, probably symbolizing the souls of the dead. Approaching the very edge of the stage, and then sitting, dangling her legs into the abyss - the orchestra pit, she ends the scene of madness, singing her last aria.

Khibla Gerzmava - counting on the acceptance of the theater, of course, this production was started - he leads his part neatly and touchingly. Alexey Dolgov is more colorful and gets even longer applause during the performance than the main character. But the splash of applause on the bows will, of course, go to her.

RG, February 17, 2009

Irina Muravyova

And again Lucia

"Lucia di Lammermoor" was staged at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater

The new production of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater became a landmark for the Moscow opera scene: Gaetano Donizetti's legendary masterpiece Lucia di Lammermoor returned many years later to the capital's repertoire and not as a "letter", but with a convincing cast of bel canto performers led by Prima Khibla Gerzmava.
The premiere was prepared by director Adolf Shapiro, conductor Wolf Gorelik, Latvian artists Andris Freibergs (set design) and Katrina Neiburga (video art), Elena Stepanova (costumes), Gleb Filshtinsky (light).

The repertoire hit of the world opera stage - "Lucia di Lammermoor" - still did not have a rich theatrical history in Moscow: "Lucia" was once staged at the Bolshoi Theater, but today only her concert performances are remembered, including two years ago - by the Russian The National Orchestra, which presented one of the best Lucii of the modern stage - American Laura Claycomb. The reason for this has always been the shortage of bel canto singers in Russia, especially those who would risk not only mastering the dizzying cascades of Norma or Lucia's coloratura, but also presenting their worthy vocal concept. Still, the standards of these parts were created by the greatest opera divas - from Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland to today's Stephanie Bonfadelli and Natalie Dessay. The Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater has long and seriously “nurtured” its Lammermoor - Khibla Gerzmava, who by the time of the premiere had time to sing the famous heroine Donizetti in different geographical locations - from St. Petersburg and Kazan to the Netherlands by the time of the premiere.

The famous drama director Adolphe Shapiro was invited to the production, for whom "Lucia" became his debut on the opera stage. And, which is rarely the case for drama directors, convincingly musical. In fact, from the very first attempt, Shapiro got into the core of the actual stage problematics of the opera theater: on the one hand, he is not going to return to the format of a purely musical ritual, on the other hand, he has broken down from the director’s furious study of scores. At the point of collision of contradictions, Adolph Shapiro managed to find a middle ground: to create a stage environment that would be both comfortable for the singers and present an actual spectacle.

In Shapirov's "Lucia", music is played by space: smart, filled with associations, opening with a double key. In a huge mega-void, empty of anything, except for the steps and the backdrop, the scene creates impressive panoramas of romantic landscapes, palace interiors, sea waves and birds (video art by Katrina Neuburg). Shapiro and the artist Andris Freibergs deliberately built the entourage and mise-en-scenes of the performance according to the laws of pictorial logic, "quoting" museum canvases, whose characters seem to come to life and play out the world of artistic mirages.

The result of this complex aesthetic work showed that not only Khibla Gerzmava, but also her partners are able to effectively and very individually appear in a production that delicately combines old operatic traditions with the latest stage tasks. And if, say, Khibla Gerzmava strives for crystal perfection in Lucia, dispassionately giving out beads of trills and grace, chilling even in the last scene of the heroine's madness, where she appears on stage in an eerie veil frozen with a white hump, and then, without giving out a single the external movement of Lucia's emotional excitement from the just committed murder, hangs her legs into the orchestra and demonstrates gambling vocal balancing act in the famous cadence, then her partner Alexei Dolgov - Edgardo's beloved, on the contrary, has achieved an amazing fusion of live, stormy emotions rushing beyond the statics normalized by the director with impressive vocals. His Edgardo is definitely from Italian opera. The work of Ilya Pavlov as Enrico, Sergei Balashov as Arturo, Valery Mikitsky as Normanno, Dmitry Stepanovich as Raimondo, Veronica Vyatkina as Alisa turned out to be excellent. The very fact that a whole galaxy of singers has appeared in the troupe who are capable of singing the most complex bel canto score without discounts for the lack of stage traditions is a serious achievement of the theater. It would not be superfluous for the orchestra to hone its ensemble playing and achieve the quality that the directors and the troupe were able to achieve on stage.

Vedomosti, 17 February 2009

Peter Pospelov

Into romanticism through the frame

Donizetti's opera was staged at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater as a poem about a traditional opera performance

Taking up "Lucia di Lammermoor", the artist Andris Freibergs and the director Adolph Shapiro did not fuss over the next topical alteration, but behaved "according to all the legends of antiquity." It is impossible to resettle yourself in the old days, so we made a quotation performance, a costume production in a frame, and the frame is still in a frame. Inside - computer-generated romantic backdrops. Between - video projections with storms. Behind the outermost frame is the orchestra, where the mad Lucia hangs her legs in order to better hear the flute.

The only joke that the artist allowed himself was a central heating radiator in dank Scotland. The only (and annoying) manifestation of the author's direction is the caricatured lord rival. Otherwise, the external form is observed - proud postures, cloaks and swords, a statically built choir, a live horse (applause!).

If so, it is a pity that tenor Alexei Dolgov does not risk appearing at a gallop. Meanwhile, he sings sonorously and plastically. Baritone Ilya Pavlov is also good. Bas Dmitry Stepanovich overreached and dropped out of aesthetics. The theater prima donna Khibla Gerzmava, on the other hand, did not have enough of her acting, but her director was left out of the frame. Gerzmava sang not impeccably in the details, but beautifully and freshly, with a sense and knowledge of traditions. The wise leadership of Wolf Gorelik sometimes lacked the dictatorial will to keep the pace from drifting, but the sextet was perfect - minus the cymbals at the climax. In general, I want to take off my hat - the approach to the Italian opera was a success.

OpenSpace .ru, February 17, 2009

Ekaterina Biryukova

"Lucia di Lammermoor" at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater

Beautiful oases of the operatic past delight the eye, tired of the garbage dumps of modern directing

The premiere of Donizetti's famous opera at the theater on Bolshaya Dmitrovka took place a month after the production of the same title at the Mariinsky, but with much less noise. After all, the post-secret Netrebko was in the Mariinsky, and here - a local Moscow event.

But, if you think about it, it will be more important. In any case, it is more substantiated. She sang Netrebko, no matter how, and goodbye. And here everything is for long-term use, since there is a permanent prima donna - Khibla Gerzmava.

The play was staged primarily on her, and the part of the main character, torn between love and nursing duty, is very suitable for her gentle soprano. The top notes, which give rise to sporting associations, are a little problematic: the pitch is taken - not taken. The same associations, and more likely from the area of ​​measured morning exercises, are caused by the musical direction of the performance, which is carried out by maestro Wolf Gorelik.

But the musicality and plasticity, which the singer does not occupy, make the central part very attractive. And this, in fact, is the first thing that is required when performing this opera.

For the first performance, the theater put its best forces in the environment of Gerzmave. True, Dmitry Stepanovich (Raimondo, Lucia's mentor) with his immense bass was a little elephant in a china shop in Donizetti's jewelry opera. And the best local tenor Aleksey Dolgov (Edgardo, Lucia's beloved), although he received almost the most significant portion of applause, surprised by some kind of sprint monotony with which he ran almost all of his difficult distance.

Nevertheless, it can be stated that the entire team, including the confident baritone Ilya Pavlov (Enrico, Lucia's hard-hearted brother), has proven the viability of this new opera production. And the work of the directors - perhaps the most painful component of the opera performance for our audience - did not contradict this at all.

The play is not engaged in "desecration of the holy things" either, and you cannot reproach it for its unreflected vampueness.

The director of the new Lucia is Adolph Shapiro, a well-known man in the theater world, but a newcomer to opera. Regarding the previous opera debut of a dramatic director in the same theater, I have already described two common types of behavior - courteous static or, on the contrary, endless fussiness.

Unlike his predecessor, Shapiro took the first path, which led to much more adequate results. Obviously, it would be difficult to achieve them without a good picture, but it is in the production. The set designer was selected as a win-win - the Latvian classic Andris Freibergs, with whom Shapiro worked a lot in Riga. And to him there is also the light ace Gleb Filshtinsky and the costume designer Elena Stepanova, who managed to give the historical outfits a completely non-museum courtesy and attached a phantasmagoric, indicatively overweight veil on wheels to the forcibly married Lucia. It is very effective when detached, it only gets in the way on stage.

There are also delicate video clips performed by Katrina Neiburga, but they just give out the director's timidity in front of the singing people, who are scared to disturb and revive with something.

For the directors, it does not matter at all what time and in which country the opera takes place. The main thing is that it takes place in the golden era of bel canto. The story itself about the beautiful and unhappy Lucia - a victim of various male ambitions - interests them much less than the story about the former opera beauty, with which it is now unclear what to do.

Crinolines and corsets are combined with the abstract-ahistorical attire of the choir, with its statuary generally hinting at an ancient tragedy. And in the minimalist space of scenography, which is quite suitable for decorating a stylish modern cafe, beautiful oases from some conventional opera past are suddenly discovered.

These are picturesque backdrops with different moods of romantic nature, a real harp with a real harpist playing on it and - the most memorable - two horses belonging to her beloved and brother Lucia. One horse is absolutely alive, as in childhood in "Prince Igor" on the stage of the Kremlin Palace, and the other is in the form of a frozen ceremonial statue in armor.

All these beauties are accentuated quite clearly so that it is clear: this is a memory, a quote, and not simple-minded kitsch. But they are very pleasing to the eye of an opera man, tired of the garbage dumps and brothels of modern directing.

INFOX .ru, February 14, 2009

Elena Cheremnykh

Moscow got its own Lammermoor bride

In the new production of Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermoor, which was presented on Friday by the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater, Lucia's husband's dress will not be splattered with blood. It's almost a sensation.

Latvian genius

The laconicism and at the same time the meaningfulness of the stage solution of "Lucia di Lammermoor" makes one suspect no less than a genius in its set designer Andris Freibergse, a long-term associate of the director of "Lucia" Adolf Shapiro in the Riga Youth Theater. In fact, Moscow has already had the opportunity to be convinced of Freibergs' genius twice. In 2003, when Handel's marvelously designed "Alcina" came to the new stage of the Bolshoi Theater from the Latvian National Opera. And when Nabucco was shown at the Novaya Opera.

Based on the novel by Walter Scott in 1835 and revered as a model of the bel canto style, the opera Lucia di Lammermoor has so far insisted on two prerequisites. The first is the presence of a strong and stylish soprano of the main character. This condition is met: the prima of the theater Khibla Gerzmava sings Lucia in Stanislavsky. For her, in fact, the performance was staged. The second prerequisite was blood splattered White dress heroines. Having stabbed the groom on the marriage bed, it is in this outfit that Lucia should go out in the famous scene of madness, and die in him. However, the venerable Andris Freibergs, the most modest-looking man, with a hidden gleam in his eyes, told Infox.ru at the general rehearsal: "Lucia's dress will remain white." And the world did not collapse.

In the new "Lucia" you won't see anyone on stage. There are also motionless knights in armor. And the effectively white-clad female choir. And an iron statue of a condottiere, who rode here directly from the Italian courtyard of the Pushkin Museum. There is even a real white horse that brings Edgard in love on a date under the moon. And all this is nothing more than elegant accessories to that conventionally Scottish, conventionally Walterscott romanticism, which is translated by Donizetti's music into the language of fire-breathing Italian passions. As if cooling rhymes to the boiling music of Donizetti in the performance are video projections of flying birds, clouds, calmly flowing or violently falling waters. Surprisingly, it is not even the calmness with which the set designer avoids the numerous temptations to follow the lead of literature. And the persistence with which he saturates the opera in a modern way with visualized lyrics. By the way, the set designer was inspired, according to him, by old Scottish miniatures and types of interiors.

Scots with an Italian temperament

The plot of "Lucia", in short and simplified, is that "love for the motherland begins with the family." There is no need to retell the story of the enmity between the two Scottish clans, on top of which love is superimposed by a curse, not a blessing. Much more important is the emotional tension of the libretto, the characters of which often “tremble from terrible suspicions,” “listen and tremble,” “raise a storm in their chest,” make “vows to Heaven” and sacrifice themselves for the sake of their family. The most amazing thing is that this whole stilted set by Donizetti's genius has been elevated to a living operatic apotheosis.

Against the background of "Puritans", an opera created in the same year by 28-year-old (and soon deceased) Bellini on the plot of the same Walter Scott, "Lucia" by 38-year-old Donizetti simply goes into temperamental majors of love explanations and family squabbles, demanding from the singers a crazy recoil both in arias and in ensemble scenes. Suffice it to say that the performer of the part of Lucia must take the top three E-flat. And Edgard is the top two D-flat. Few are recognized as reference Lucias. Among them are Joan Sutherland, Beverly Sills and (one of the last) Natalie Dessay. By the way, the star Anna Netrebko, who in January sang Lucia first at the Mariinsky and then at the Metropolitan Opera, has not yet been able to enter this list.

Working at depth

In a space open to the entire stage depth, the opera unfolds so slowly that it can resemble a costume concert. Director Adolph Shapiro refused from the stormy flickering of characters wringing their hands, and preferred the calm static of mise-en-scènes. And he didn’t lose. The silhouette graphics (the costumes of Elena Stepanova are somehow good in Greenway style) in the lighting design of Gleb Filshtinsky affects the viewer no weaker than the notorious psychologism.

The slow tempo of the action provides a wonderful opportunity to consider and hear the most important thing in this opera. Not blood, but how it grows cold when Lucia is forced to sign a marriage contract with the unloved. Not the enmity of clans, but the confusion of the feuding in the sextet "Chi mi frena in tal momento" ("What stopped me"). Finally, not the horror of murder, but the spirit of the Lammermoor bride freed by madness. Having stabbed the groom, she moves across the stage in a strange, hunchbacked feather bed thrown over her giant cloak. A scene of madness begins. But in the hall, sobs will be heard when Lucia, throwing off her dress-construction, in a simple white shirt sits on the floor and dangles her legs into the orchestra pit. On the sounds of her farewell aria "Ardon gli incensi" ("Smoke of incense") with crystal tones of the flute, no one cares that there is no blood on the bride's dress. Such music is not about earthly things.

Results, 23 February 2009

Leila Guchmazova

Love. Navet. Three corpses

At the MAMT named after K. S. Stanislavsky and Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko staged "Lucia di Lammermoor"

The breadth of the swing of the theater surprises and pleases. Before the premiere of "Lucia ..." the suspicion gnawed that three hours of an opera born in 1835 by Gaetano Donizetti with a stage destiny that did not take place in Moscow was an unbearable test for the theater and the public. Nothing of the kind: the opera looked decent, and the packed hall listened to all the roulades in Italian and sat until the last breath of the curtain.

An example of classical bel canto for almost a century did not get along with the Moscow stage, mainly because it cannot do without educated voices capable of fine dressing of Italian singing. In this sense, MAMT took almost no risk, because in its troupe there is perhaps the most powerful Moscow soprano - Khibla Gerzmava. For many years running Lucia in the famous theaters of the world, she dreamed of singing it on her native stage, and the experience did not disappear: Gerzmava became a tuning fork, tuned colleagues to the positive - it is not gods who burn pots, bel canto is subject to ordinary Russian mortals.

For a concert performance, such a fuse would be enough. But for a full-fledged performance, a staging idea was needed that could fit a bloody romantic story (love, libel, three corpses in the finale) into the framework of the current musical theater. Actually, these very frames inspired the opera debutant and venerable drama director Adolphe Shapiro. In a long-standing "theater within a theater" reception, he reconciled the modern approach with the grandmother's habits of opera: a square of painted white brick with cast-iron radiators frames an opening with a painted curtain. There, in the depths, - the quiet of the garden, misty rivers and the flashlight of the moon; a cardboard world lovingly inhabited by opera. The contrast smoothed out video art on a white frame with silhouettes of soaring birds and waves blurred into pixels - scenography by Andris Freibergs, video art by Katrina Neiburga.

As it should be in the bel canto opera, the singers did not fuss with the performance, it is important to wear camisoles with swords and crinolines. A few director's undertakings sometimes looked strange, sometimes they answered the main staged idea of ​​reconciling classical opera and modern theater - a live white horse (a favorite attraction of old performances) was not afraid of a mechanical one chained in armor, and Lucia, who was going crazy, was trying to fall into orchestra pit. At first, her Lucia's autism, which puzzled her, was more than balanced by the temperament of Edgardo - Alexei Dolgov, the long-awaited tenor in the Moscow bezrybe. They really looked like a couple next to the strictly drawn and just as strictly sung other characters. The orchestra, excuse me, did not interfere with anyone.

It is quite obvious that MAMT, in its current state, is a full-fledged and very active player on the Russian opera field, whose plans thrill even hardened critical hearts. If it seems to someone that there are no big discoveries in the current premiere, you can safely answer - and thank God. There is also no simple transfer of the Italian original (as in the sweet Donizetti of the Mikhailovsky Theater) and cheap couplets about the deputies (as in the plebeian Donizetti of the Novaya Opera). There is the detached charm presented to "Lucia ..." by the Latvian trio of directors, the skillful light of Gleb Filshtinsky and the enormous work of the entire opera troupe going up the hill. Quite a lot.

The premiere of the new production of "Lucia di Lammermoor" was held with all the signs of success: applause, flowers to the performers and conductor, shouts of "Bravo!" and so on. True, when the production crew came out to bow, I heard the lonely "Boo!" :)

And that’s to say, the production itself left a strange impression ... dark-dark room with a dark-dark ceiling and black-black walls, with black-black furniture, in a dark-dark corner there is a black-black coffin ", etc. :) Replace" black "with" gray ", and you will get a rough idea of the design of this performance (artist - S. Mannino) By the way, there was a coffin on the stage :)

This is how the scene was framed (this is a photo from bows):

The young lady in the wedding dress is an extra. She lay in a coffin, which rolled out of the wall on the left a couple of times, when Lucia remembered her "fantasy" and when Edgardo mourned the death of Lucia.

Lucia the entire performance took place in a white shirt, on which at first she was thrown some kind of black cloak-robe, and in the wedding scene - Wedding Dress in the form of an almost straitjacket (there are strings on the back).
Raymond - Lucia's mentor - was dressed "like everyone else." Judging by the libretto, this character has a holy order, and usually the directors dress him in the appropriate costume. But the costume designer A.Lai had a different opinion.

However, all this is nonsense if you want to listen to Donizetti's music and good voices.

The main decoration of the performance was, as expected, Albina Shagimuratova. In general, for her sake, I took a ticket to this premiere. The rest of the participants in the premiere performance were not known for a long time. Finally, a line-up appeared on the site, which did not add to my enthusiasm :(

So, the premiere was attended by:
Conductor - V. Gergiev
Henry - V. Sulimsky
Lucia - A. Shagimuratova
Edgar - E. Akimov
Arthur - D. Voropaev
Raymond - V. Kravets
Alisa - S. Kapicheva
Norman - M. Makarov

I really wanted to hear a "fresh" tenor. In the end, S. Skorokhodov was among the preparing parties, and I was counting on him. Akimov has been singing Edgar for a long time, but recently it has not been very successful (this is purely my opinion). Once upon a time in the part of Henry I listened to Markov, who sang just brilliantly. I hoped that this time I would hear him too, but it didn’t grow together. True, I also really like Sulimsky :)
It seemed strange that the part of Raymond was received by Kravets, who, as it always seemed to me, is not quite bass ...

It was a pleasant surprise that Gergiev was only 13 minutes late :) As often happens at premieres, the orchestra and singers did not always come on time. The divergence of the orchestra from Shagimuratova in the first act was very noticeable, but the singer and conductor quickly corrected the situation.

So what are my impressions?

Statement of "nothing". Everything is gray-black interspersed with white, and in the final - and red (this, as you know, is blood). In the scene of madness, the choir puts on hoods and takes out something like "bloody" gloves, which they then smear on Lucia's dress. Either the director decided in this way to show that society was to blame for Lucia's madness and Arturo's death, or something else came to his mind :)

Shagimuratova sang great! Some people found minor errors in her vocals, but personally I was very pleased with her. And she played very well. I'm glad I was able to listen to it that day.

I liked Sulimsky more in the first act than in the second. In my opinion, he did an excellent job with both the role and the part.

Akimov at first seemed quite good to Edgardo, but when it came time to sing the aria, all his vocal problems came out.

Kravets didn't impress me at all.

S. Kapicheva, unknown to me, in a small part of Alice sometimes simply disappeared behind the orchestra ... Voropaev sang in a kind of rattling voice: (I expected more from him.

I post photos from bows:

Alice, Norman, Arthur

Raymond

Sulimsky, Kravets, Kapicheva, Makarov

In a gray overcoat - Akimov

Shagimuratova

Gergiev and Shagimuratova

Production team