Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
Conductor: Michael Papadopoulos
Director: Cecilia Stinton
Opera Holland Park’s new production of Lucia di Lammermoor is a sumptuous feast. Donizetti’s glorious music is beautifully interpreted in an absorbing dramatisation directed by Cecilia Stinton in which every element plays a part.
The arches of designer Neil Irish’s set cleverly echo the architecture of the existing walls of Holland House, while downstage the tombs of the Ashtons are created with loving attention to detail, right down to the careful engraving of ancestral names. Tim van ‘t Hof’s lighting makes much of the strong contrasts in the work between joy and sorrow, gradually darkening as the piece progresses. The Opera Holland Park Chorus give vital support, movement director William Byram giving them real purpose and presence without distracting quantities of business.
Stinton uses the overture to evoke the already febrile atmosphere of the Ashton family. While servants busy themselves preparing for the entertainment of Enrico’s male friends, downstage a veiled Lucia comes to mourn beside her mother’s newly dug grave. She is haunted by the legend of a young bride, murdered by her husband, and her ghost now literally appears. Looking like a Burne-Jones damsel, this slight figure is an evocative presence throughout the piece, walking silently and unseen to foreshadow Lucia’s own tragic destiny.
Morgan Pearse gives a strong performance as Enrico, Lucia’s brother, quickly establishing his unstable nature as he sings of his burning rage for his long-time enemy, Edgardo. In the minor role of Alisa, Lucia’s maid, Charlotte Badham gives a standout acting performance. Her ability to convey a sense of mulish impatience with an underlying loyalty makes her constantly watchable and gives balance to Jennifer France’s mercurial Lucia.
France herself is wonderful in this most demanding of central roles. She has a beautiful voice, and can express the extraordinary range which Donizetti scores to represent Lucia’s emotions. In her first three arias, she convincingly moves from Regnava nel silenzio, her chilling tale of seeing the ghost, to the impassioned thrills of Quando rapito in estasi. Of course, it is the performance of the mad scenes by which any soprano’s Lucia will be judged, and France is mesmerising, with her vocal range, the subtlety of her dynamics and her convincing acting.
José de Eça is superb as her lover, Edgardo, a powerful and eloquent tenor who brings enormous physical presence to the tormented character. His Act One duets with Lucia, Sulla tomba che rinserra and Qui di sposa eterna are simply magnificent. You can’t help regretting that the plot demands that Edgardo is absent for most of Act Two, and when he reappears in Act Three, it is too late to reconcile with Lucia. His final dying aria Tu che a Dio spiegasti l’ali is absolutely heartbreaking.
There are strong performances too by Blaise Malaba as Raimondo and David Webb as Normanno. Joseph Buckmaster looks convincing as the unlovable Arturo. Cecilia Stinton’s decision to show him upstage emerging from the bridal chamber as the sung action takes place downstage is a brilliant one. His swaggering presence as he continues to force himself on Lucia makes complete psychological sense of her plummet into murderous madness.
In a mesmerising production, Michael Papadopoulus conducts the City of London Sinfonia with great verve.
Runs until 1 August 2025
