Lucia di Lammermoor (English National Opera)

The English National Opera has been through some unfortunate times of late. Aside from The Turn of the Screw which was brilliant, they've served up mostly rubbish. (Aida wasn't all bad, mostly glitz though) Lucia di Lammermoor is a triumph. Remarkably, I didn't hate the English translation, although some lines I'd rather have said in a language I don't understand. This new production from David Alden is bleak, but visually interesting. He doesn't shy away from controversy with a particularly charged brother/sister relationship, but if unsubtle it's certainly visceral.

Anna Christy (who sent an apology in advance stating that she was suffering from throat problems, which I'm going to ignore because I can't abide wet singers) looks perfect for the role of Lucia (why not Lucy? since everything else is in English). Her tiny frame childlike inside the Alice in Wonderland style dresses. Her portrayal is strong on naivety but somewhat weaker on sadness. Whilst her distress is great at the moments of major suffering, being groped by her brother an obvious example, she lacked the overall world weariness, a girl isolated by the rules of society. By "Il dolce suono" however, she had the audience on tenterhooks. In a tiny white night dress, dripping in blood, she navigated this difficult aria with skill. It wasn't a showy, coloratura laden, candenza ridden performance, but a dramatically effective rendition that in context was extremely powerful. The appearance of the stabbed Arturo (no blood spared here either) led to a fantastic interaction between the two. Christy didn't power through all her notes with absolute confidence but her overall performance won the audience over. Barry Banks made for a decent Edgardo. His act II duet with Lucia was movingly genuine. I found the overall emphasis on him being a perfect gentleman a little forced, but Banks appeared so desperately in love with Lucia as to make his otherwise unusual actions seem entirely plausible. Mark Stone made for a truly unpleasant Enrico. The incestuous relationship he has with his sister is simply grotesque. He ties her to the bed before throughly groping her. Yet for all the comic villainy, Enrico remains a real character forced into these actions by the constraints of society. His desperate need to recover his financial situation and protect himself from political intrigue force his hand. Stone somewhat misses this depth taking the incest and creating a foul, irredeemable, character who cares little for his sister. The smaller roles were all handled ably enough with Paul Whelan singing at the side of the stage whilst Clive Bayley ate the scenery as Raimondo.

The staging from David Alden is fantastically bleak. Crumbling walls shift around the stage to provide a variety of locations. The backs of the walls are used late in the piece effectively showing the fragility of their whole environment. The opening of act III is particularly effective, a staircase being all that is required to create the tower that Edgardo is living in. Nicely integrated thunderstorm sound effects and a wind machine (always a plus) beautifully set the scene for the suffering that is to follow. The chorus movement however is a little messy throughout, especially in the final scene ruining the rather striking graveyard of pictures. Alden doesn't pull in any punches in showing the nature of Lucia and Enrico's relationship but whilst truly unsubtle (groping her just as she hits the big top note) it sets the audience on edge. Paul Daniel conducts strongly and top marks go for the use of a glass harmonica in the mad scene, though it gave me a bit of a headache.

Here is a production the English National Opera can be proud of. They've taken a potent opera, attached a respectable (if a little mischievous) opera director and employed a decent cast. Now lets have a revival of this rather than The Mikado (sorry but 13 revivals is too many for any production, however profitable) in the next couple of seasons.