Arguably the most famous of all “bel canto” operas because of a spectacular “Mad Scene”, a production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor comes with high expectations. Melbourne Opera, however, is supremely well equipped to meet them successfully due to 21 years of experience in mounting 63 operas, including that greatest challenge of all – Wagner’s Ring Cycle – plus many concerts, master classes and a host of other opera-related endeavours. What this company has achieved without any government funding beggars belief – it’s simply astonishing.
This year, Melbourne Opera’s production of the Ring was acknowledged with a Greenroom Award for “Outstanding Special Achievement”. It was hailed as a “landmark accomplishment that has enriched the cultural tapestry of opera … showcasing the power of storytelling through music, performance, and visual spectacle”. The element of story-telling is dear to director Suzanne Chaundy’s heart and has been vital to her imagining of both Wagner’s epic and Donizetti’s tale of a family torn apart by competing passions.
Having considerable experience in dealing with the limitations of the comparatively small Athenaeum stage, Chaundy knows how to deploy her forces efficiently. Chorus movements and groupings were skillfully managed and focus was maintained on the main actors, beginning with a striking giant portrait of Lucia and her brother Enrico as children featured during the Overture. Dale Ferguson’s tiered and layered set design with sepia backdrop of castle precincts, created an illusion of depth that Chaundy exploited to good effect. Peter Amesbury’s atmospheric lighting design also served to heighten the drama.
As a young singer about to embark on a successful international career, Elena Xanthoudakis was a principal singer way back in the 2003 productions as Leila (The Pearlfishers) and Pamina (The Magic Flute). We have seen her in a number of other principal roles over the years, but the role of Lucia could be seen as a culmination. It is one that challenges the vocal and dramatic resources of even the greatest divas, but Xanthoudakis gave of her best. She has always been a highly expressive, committed actress with a charming stage presence and a most appealing smiling tone when singing more softly in the middle range. She possesses excellent vocal agility and attacked the highest notes fearlessly on opening night – no easy feat for the final extended “Mad Scene” after the demands of the previous Acts. Hers was a most convincing Lucia sung with great technical prowess.
As her brother, Simon Meadows was in fabulous voice. He absolutely nailed everything he sang – rock solid on the high notes and powerfully projected throughout both vocally and dramatically. If you wanted to hate somebody, then his Lord Enrico Ashton was a worthy object as he did everything he could to bend Lucia to his will. A master of emotional blackmail, he forced her into a marriage that would save the ill-gotten family fortunes and his neck, weakening her resolve with a letter purporting to prove that her beloved Edgardo had forsaken her. When confronted with Lucia’s madness and bloody evidence that she had murdered her husband, Arturo, Meadows’ reactions – in turn aghast, disbelieving, pitying and enraged – were nicely calibrated, and you couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit sorry for this horrible bully, who might have actually loved his sister in spite of abusing her in his egotistical despair.
In the role of Edgardo, Henry Choo gave a passionate account of a man too willing to believe the worst of the woman he was supposed to love. It is an old trope of misunderstanding that, coincidentally, echoes aspects of La Traviata, Melbourne Opera’s first production – the heroine persuaded to sacrifice love in order to save someone else and her lover quick to savagely denounce her in public. At least Alfredo comes to understand her motivations in the end, unlike Edgardo, who ends up killing himself. Bright and ringing, Choo’s tenor voice made a strong impression as one enraged by injustice and supposed betrayal. His confrontation duet with Simon Meadows at the beginning of Act 3 was particularly fine, as he appeared more relaxed but still full of vitality.
Possessing a bass baritone voice of exceptional resonance and grandeur, Eddie Muliaumaseali’i was terrific as Raimondo, the Calvinist chaplain. The velvety texture of his voice and sense of gravitas that he brings to a role was perfectly suited to such an essentially sympathetic character. The audience response during the curtain calls signalled enthusiastic approval.
In the secondary roles, Robert Macfarlane as Arturo, Boyd Owen as Normanno (a retainer of Enrico), and Sarah Sweeting as Alisa (Lucia’s handmaid), all gave strong performances. Although the role of Normanno does not involve much solo singing, it is important for establishing a quality performance, and Boyd Owen’s strong, attractive tenor voice and energy put the opera on a firm footing. Sweetman’s mezzo-soprano voice is also uncommonly well projected and she gave a very focused performance. Macfarlane always brings exuberance and creativity to his performances in addition to possessing a beautiful tenor voice. Their contribution to the Act 3 sextet following Lucia’s aria made this operatic highlight positively thrilling.
Spine-chilling moments were greatly enhanced by the chorus work, with full chorus ranged across the stage sounding rich and well balanced. It was a real pleasure to hear such a fine contingent of male voices. Involved and disciplined, both musically and dramatically, chorus members acted and looked the part in Harriet Oxley’s period costumes.
Raymond Lawrence can be congratulated on both his preparation of the chorus and his alert conducting as he shaped Donizetti’s melodious score. Although the orchestra can sound overly loud from some positions in the theatre, the balance between orchestra and singers was generally very good indeed. Orchestral highlights included some beautiful work from the featured horns, Laura Tanata’s harp in Lucia’s Act 1 aria, and Vicki Stanko’s flute in the “Mad Scene”.
There are three more performances, on May 14, 16 and 18. You would be mad to miss this outstanding production.
Photo credit: Robin Hall
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Heather Leviston reviewed Melbourne Opera’s production of “Lucia di Lammermoor”, performed at the Athenaeum Theatre on May 8, 2024.
