Donizetti's Lucia Di Lammermoor is not only a Bel Canto masterpiece but to me one of the all time great operas. For the best productions, look no further than the 1983 production with Sutherland and Kraus, the 1982 production with Ricciarelli and Carreras and this one with Scotto and Bergonzi. The production with Devia in the title role is also worth noting, as is the 1971 recording with Sutherland, Pavarotti and Milnes.
As I have said in my review title, this 1967 Tokyo performance is one of my favourite Lucias. The costume and set design are very elegant yet not too much to diminish the tone of the opera, which is quite tragic. The camera work is always interesting and never static, and the sound while not the most crystal clear I've heard of all opera productions is still above serviceable. The picture quality is rather grainy, but this is more a nit-pick and does little to hurt the performance.
From a musical point of view, this Lucia cannot be faulted. Donizetti's music I can go all day and night praising, and to justice to it you need a good orchestra, chorus and conductor. On all three counts we do. The orchestra's playing has style, power and sensitivity, and the chorus while not as prominent sound-wise than the orchestra and the soloists sing with good pitch and balance. Bruno Bartoletti I was introduced to with the 1976 film Tosca, which is one of my favourite opera films, and I knew his conducting style was very genteel and sympathetic while bringing out the tragedy or whatever of the music and giving his singers freedom. And he doesn't disappoint here.
I was also impressed with the staging. I never felt it was too static or stand and deliver. The scenes with Lucia and Enrico smoulder, Lucia and Edgardo not so much but still impressive, and the final scene is very moving. The Mad scene is a revelation on all counts, it may lack the eerie, haunting sleep-walking-like quality of Sutherland, Gruberova and Anderson, but it is stylistically and dramatically thrilling. The Sextet has all the pathos and conflict it should do, with Bergonzi's outburst being surprisingly intense, in fact of all the Lucias I've seen the only production to bungle this scene was the Anna Netrebko Met production.
Lucia Di Lammermoor has a wonderful cast who play their roles perfectly. Despite reservations of whether she would work, having grown up on Sutherland and Callas' Lucias, Renata Scotto, who I do respect, was fantastic as Lucia. True, her high notes above the stave in the Mad scene are rather nasal and shrill with her first high E flat too pushed, luckily her second was better( Scotto's high notes to me were never the most beautiful), but her middle register has a much more rounded and fruity sound to it. What makes Scotto stand out was her musicianship and her acting.
While she didn't have what I call a beautiful voice, though I don't consider it ugly at all, she is alongside Ricciarelli one of the more musical Lucias. Her acting is just a textbook example of how to do Lucia, she brings out the pathos, tragedy and psychological troubles of the character, but she does something not many other Lucias do, she tells a story. Physically she is actually ideal for the role, with her cute child-like features(at the time) and her petite figure.
Carlo Bergonzi is splendid in one of his best roles as Edgardo. Acting may not always have been Bergonzi's forte, in fact I often found him rather stolid and graceless. But when it comes to style, phrasing, beauty of tone, charm and musicality, Bergonzi is up there with one of the best tenors in this role. As for the acting, it is never exciting as such, but it is ardent, and actually there are some shining moments such as the Sextet and the tomb scene which are intense and poignant.
Mario Zanassi was a very underrated baritone, and to me one of the better ones of the 60s(MacNeil being a contender for the best). His voice is firm and powerful, with a lot of ring to it, complete with some superb breath control which he wastes no time in showing of. Characterisation-wise, he is scheming, powerful yet with a sympathetic side.
It is a shame that Lucia and Raimondo's duet is cut, because if Plinnio Clabassi had not had some deserved recognition for his bit before the Mad scene, his role would have been pretty thankless. That said, Clabassi does have a very good voice with a pleasingly mellow tone and is a convincing actor, so you can tell he is giving his all. Although it is never frequent to harm the production, I found the performance of Arturo pretty awful and it was one of those why was he even cast sort of performances.
A bonus is the curtain calls which are always interesting. Bergonzi especially is deservedly greeted with six and a half minutes and eleven curtain calls. I liked it when Scotto stepped out of character for her applause, again deserved. Some may say she "milks" it, in some ways yes, but Tebaldi, Del Monaco and Cossotto and I imagine many others do that too, in short I personally didn't have a problem with it.
Overall, I recommend this 1967 Lucia highly. 10/10 Bethany Cox
As I have said in my review title, this 1967 Tokyo performance is one of my favourite Lucias. The costume and set design are very elegant yet not too much to diminish the tone of the opera, which is quite tragic. The camera work is always interesting and never static, and the sound while not the most crystal clear I've heard of all opera productions is still above serviceable. The picture quality is rather grainy, but this is more a nit-pick and does little to hurt the performance.
From a musical point of view, this Lucia cannot be faulted. Donizetti's music I can go all day and night praising, and to justice to it you need a good orchestra, chorus and conductor. On all three counts we do. The orchestra's playing has style, power and sensitivity, and the chorus while not as prominent sound-wise than the orchestra and the soloists sing with good pitch and balance. Bruno Bartoletti I was introduced to with the 1976 film Tosca, which is one of my favourite opera films, and I knew his conducting style was very genteel and sympathetic while bringing out the tragedy or whatever of the music and giving his singers freedom. And he doesn't disappoint here.
I was also impressed with the staging. I never felt it was too static or stand and deliver. The scenes with Lucia and Enrico smoulder, Lucia and Edgardo not so much but still impressive, and the final scene is very moving. The Mad scene is a revelation on all counts, it may lack the eerie, haunting sleep-walking-like quality of Sutherland, Gruberova and Anderson, but it is stylistically and dramatically thrilling. The Sextet has all the pathos and conflict it should do, with Bergonzi's outburst being surprisingly intense, in fact of all the Lucias I've seen the only production to bungle this scene was the Anna Netrebko Met production.
Lucia Di Lammermoor has a wonderful cast who play their roles perfectly. Despite reservations of whether she would work, having grown up on Sutherland and Callas' Lucias, Renata Scotto, who I do respect, was fantastic as Lucia. True, her high notes above the stave in the Mad scene are rather nasal and shrill with her first high E flat too pushed, luckily her second was better( Scotto's high notes to me were never the most beautiful), but her middle register has a much more rounded and fruity sound to it. What makes Scotto stand out was her musicianship and her acting.
While she didn't have what I call a beautiful voice, though I don't consider it ugly at all, she is alongside Ricciarelli one of the more musical Lucias. Her acting is just a textbook example of how to do Lucia, she brings out the pathos, tragedy and psychological troubles of the character, but she does something not many other Lucias do, she tells a story. Physically she is actually ideal for the role, with her cute child-like features(at the time) and her petite figure.
Carlo Bergonzi is splendid in one of his best roles as Edgardo. Acting may not always have been Bergonzi's forte, in fact I often found him rather stolid and graceless. But when it comes to style, phrasing, beauty of tone, charm and musicality, Bergonzi is up there with one of the best tenors in this role. As for the acting, it is never exciting as such, but it is ardent, and actually there are some shining moments such as the Sextet and the tomb scene which are intense and poignant.
Mario Zanassi was a very underrated baritone, and to me one of the better ones of the 60s(MacNeil being a contender for the best). His voice is firm and powerful, with a lot of ring to it, complete with some superb breath control which he wastes no time in showing of. Characterisation-wise, he is scheming, powerful yet with a sympathetic side.
It is a shame that Lucia and Raimondo's duet is cut, because if Plinnio Clabassi had not had some deserved recognition for his bit before the Mad scene, his role would have been pretty thankless. That said, Clabassi does have a very good voice with a pleasingly mellow tone and is a convincing actor, so you can tell he is giving his all. Although it is never frequent to harm the production, I found the performance of Arturo pretty awful and it was one of those why was he even cast sort of performances.
A bonus is the curtain calls which are always interesting. Bergonzi especially is deservedly greeted with six and a half minutes and eleven curtain calls. I liked it when Scotto stepped out of character for her applause, again deserved. Some may say she "milks" it, in some ways yes, but Tebaldi, Del Monaco and Cossotto and I imagine many others do that too, in short I personally didn't have a problem with it.
Overall, I recommend this 1967 Lucia highly. 10/10 Bethany Cox
