You'd be mad to miss it

source

Lets start with something fun and light, hm?

I got the chance this Saturday to see Lucia di Lammermoor - by Donizetti, based off the novel by Sir Walter Scott - at the Met. Ok, so i had to stand thru a 3 and a half hour, 3-act opera, but it was soooo worth it. Like i was paying 60 bucks for a seat...besides, it was sold out. So standing room was all i could get. And it was the last chance to see the French Soprano Dessay in the title role until March. ...like i'm waiting that long.

I've been seeing ads for this all around nyc anyways for the last month or so. You see the graphic above? Does the phrase "you'd be mad to miss it" sound in any way familiar? Then you're probably a new yorker who saw one of the ads.

Quite frankly, as an opera on the whole, it was sub-par. Or perhaps just par. In and of itself, the story was too simple, with (as Paul pointed out) characters rarely making decisions onstage, but instead reacting to something that happened offstage. It certainly didn't have the complexity of thought of, say, a Verdi or Motzart. But that wasn't the point.

The opera is classified as "canto bella" (pretty singing), because it is the score and visual nature of the show that are its selling points. The opera is famous for the so-called "Mad Scene," act III scene II (more on that in a bit).

Basically, the plot is this: Set in Scotland, Enrico is the head of the Lammermoor clan, whose forturnes are waning. To save the family, he wants his sister, Lucia, to marry some fancy powerful dude who is there for 3 seconds. Trouble is, (oh noes!) Lucia is in love with Edgardo di Ravenswood, whose clan is the sworn enemy of the Lammermoors. Not-so-long story short, Edgardo goes to france, Lucia is forced to marry fancy-dude, Edgardo returns, is sad.

Now the cool part. On her wedding night, Lucia takes a dagger to her not-so-powerful-now-huh husband, and goes crazy. In a stunningly gorgeous scene, she descends the steps into the party below, still in her wedding dress, drenched in her husbands blood. She proceeds to sing a 15 minute long sequence, going more and more insane the entire time. In a chilling moment, she removes her veil and begins to dance with it, chuckling for a moment - the veil looked ethereal and ghost like. ooo...chills.

Most people know the first part of the Mad Scene songs, they just don't know it. Ever seen the 5th Element? The first song the blue Diva Plavalaguna sings is from Lucia. Go figure, right?

In the end, she dies, Edgardo (these names kill me a little, btw) kills himself, all are sad. But, as i said the plot isn't the point. The score, basically, gives the singers free reign to go crazy-nuts. And they did...the best way i can describe it is vocal pyrotechnics. It. was. crazy. 5 minute or so ovation (in the middle of the show!) after mad-scene played out.

Of course, it also helped that it looked pretty too. Mary Zimmerman transplanted her creative team that she used in her Tony Award winning Metamorphose in 2002. Visually stunning, with such a detailed attention put to costuming and, most stunningly, the lighting. The overture was played over the changing lights on a rocky stage, and we see the sky change colors...and its not like the sky was one color to begin with, but was rather a myriad of blues and purples.

I can't even being to understand the technical skill and percision needed to sing these roles. Regular opera is hard enough, but the ability (displayed best by Ms. Dessay) to hit a dozen notes in a slide that lasts less than a second, and make each one distinct enough to be heard, but neither staccato or legato is astonishing. I don't really care if you don't like opera, you have to give them props for skill. I consider myself a fairly competent singer....but i 'aint that good. And this opera is a showcase for such skill to go crazy-go-nuts.

All in all, what it lacked in plot was more than made up for in vocal and visual stunning beauty and skill. And the Mad Scene was all it was hyped up to be, and more.

~As my friend used to say, Fine Wine