Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor / Netrebko, Beczala, Kwiecien, Metropolitan Opera

This video presentation of "Lucia di Lammermoor" is a Metropolitan Opera production that opened the 2007-08 season, this particular performance is a live performance that was broadcast on high definition to movie theaters across America in February, 2009. I found this performance to be highly moving, poignant, and enjoyable. The director, Mary Zimmerman, creates an atmosphere through the production and performances that give this classic tragic opera, with its "Romeo and Juliet" tones of a doomed love affair between two members of warring clans, the feel of a Hammer horror film, which is not to say this a "dumbed-down" production or an exercise in directorial-indulgence in "opera-horror kitsch."Ms. Zimmerman seems to understand that "Lucia" is, at heart, a horror story, and, like all great horror stories, it knows what scares us. This production over the years has received criticism for straying too far from the basic text; with the critics noting such directorial touches as showing the specter of the murdered young bride Lucia has visions of in the glade in Act I, and of having the cast members pose for photographs during the wedding reception near the end of Act II. Too much business, they say, or showing us literally what should be left to the imagination.But opera, I feel, is a medium that is not always just about leaving things to the audiences' imagination. Opera, at its best, takes the audience members into the imagination; the imaginations of the characters and, most importantly, into the imagination of the opera's original creators. It is through this dynamic that opera can plumb the deepest secrets at the heart of the human experience. In the case of "Lucia," the opera is about delivering powerful insights into mortality, and death, and the agonizing question of what, if anything, we leave behind us when we disappear into the void. Whether we remain after death on this earth as a wraith or as an image in a photograph, Ms. Zimmerman is telling us, at best it is a faint image of who we were when we alive, and often a false image at that.Natalie Dessay sang "Lucia" when this production premiered in 2007, by 2009, when it returned to the Met, Anna Netrebko, the Met's chosen superstar soprano, had assumed the role. In this performance Ms. Netrebko clearly shows why she has established herself as arguably the leading soprano of our age. Keeping her face mostly blank during this performance -- her Lucia seems to know that even her happiest moments will ultimately bring her nothing but grief -- she delivers a Lucia who, in the introductory words of Ms. Dessay is a "victim of men and circumstance" who can only claim her autonomy by stepping outside what passes for the moral pale. Many productions present Lucia as a woman who is driven to the brink of madness, Ms. Zimmerman, wisely, casts her as sort of a fun house mirror image of Jack Nicholson's character in Stanley Kubrick's film version of "The Shining." There, Nicholson's character was over-the-top crazy from the word go, a dizzying black hole of energy, an example of American can-do spirit taken to its sociopathic conclusion. In this "Lucia," Ms. Netrebko perfectly captures the emotional toll taken by sensitive women in Victorian Scotland, where smiles are about as rare as actual sightings of the Loch Ness Monster. She just keeps internalizing the repression within, until she reaches the psychological tipping point. When this Lucia emerges from the bridal suite, wrapped in her blood-drenched gown, she's an avatar of the deepest psycho-sexual fears of both genders.Ms. Netrebko's performance of the famous "mad scene," featuring flute and glass armonica solos under Marco Armillato's spirited direction, is heartbreaking, as we see and hear Lucia's imploding psyche with our own ears and eyes. Mariusz Kwiecien, as Lucia's conniving brother, brings a strong physicality to the role, and suggests that his relationship with his sister, may be more than kin and less than kind. The real story of the cast, however, may Piotr Beczala as Sir Edgardo di Ravenswood. In her introduction, Ms. Dessay tells us that Beczala is a last-minute replacement, and that "This could be his moment." He certainly seizes it, beginning with his initial duet with Ms. Netrebko near the end of Act I, winning over the Met audience, which is not always the most supportive of opera-goers.This Deutsche Grammophon DVD, produced in partnership with the Met, features superior sound and picture quality. By this point the Met's production crews are veterans at presenting HD performances, and mix in enough mid-screen and widescreen camera angles and shots so that we can enjoy the full visual power of this staging, along with the requisite close-ups of performers and musicians. This package also includes a handsome booklet complete with synopsis, cast and production credits, and an essay on this production of "Lucia." Additionally, unlike several other Met HD videos I've seen, this "Lucia" has the between-acts interviews as separate features, enabling the viewer at home to watch the opera straight through, with no interruption.Opera purists may question some of the directorial choices made in this "Lucia," then again, most opera purists would probably be against HD presentations to begin with. For general opera fans seeking to build their own home video libraries of the canon, this DVD of "Lucia di Lammermoor" is highly recommended.

When this performance was released on DVD I was ecstatic and I couldn't wait to own it. I totally enjoyed it in the theater last year and on public television. I've already watched the dvd several times and I still enjoy every minute of it. I've read the other reviews here and I'm not sure why they sometimes so harsh. I suppose it is natural to compare performances but is it really fair? Maria Callas, Katia Ricciarelli and Joan Sutherland all sang more than 20 years ago. I have never heard any of them as Lucia. Anna Netrebko is a 21st century singer and a very good one. Here she is an excellent Lucia.I'm not a musician or performer so I don't criticze Netrebko's pitch or lack of trills as one reviewer did. It all sounds fine to me. She sings much better than I ever will. I do agree that her words often seem garbled and she could probably use some lessons in diction but since I don't understand Italian it doesn't really matter. Thank heaven for subtitles! Overall Anna Neterbko can sing well and act and look fantastic. What more do you need in a leading lady?When I heard that Rolando Villazon was not singing I was very disappionted. I love his voice and I was looking forward to hearing him. I had never heard of Piotr Beczala and was ready to dislike him. How unfair is that? He was amazing! Within a few lines after Edgardo's entrance in act 1, he won me over. I enjoyed every note he sang. Plus, he's a trim, young, good looking romantic lead. In opera that's a bonus; too many singers are overweight and older. I will now follow Piotr's career and, maybe, get to see him live someday if he ever comes to Minnesota. He and Anna sang well together and looked fantastic even in HD.There has been a lot of criticism written in Amazon's reviews about Mary Zimmerman's production. I think it is fine. I like the ghosts; they make sense and do appear in the book. Updating the story to Victorian times works also. I have no problem with the addition of a photographer at the wedding. It also makes sense although I admit it did break the tension surrounding Edgardo's arrival at the wedding. The photograher is a quirk that works for me. He does not distract me from the story nor does he take away from the sextet. I also like the sets very much. The outdoor set in Act 1 looks like a desolate highland place where you would expect to see a ghost. The slightly rundown home of Act 2 is effective. I totally love the staicase in the mad scene and the cemetary at the end. Seeing Lucia as ghost interacting with Edgardo was a good touch.Overall this was an excellent show. I have spent several evenings enjoying this production and I look forward to many more. Buy the dvd then get out the popcorn and some Kleenex while you watch it.

I'm generally a big fan of recent Bel Canto releases from the Met, and whilst Netrebko's heavy slavic sound may not be ideal she usually creates intense, involving heroines which help you overlook this limitation. Not here alas. The only time she comes alive is during the Mad Scene; she seems to sleepwalk through the rest of the opera. She's ably supported by the other singers, and the production is relatively inoffensive, although the very literal "ghosts" throughout had worn very thin by the final curtain. All in all, I'd look elsewhere unless you are an avid fan of Netrebko, and even then I'd think twice if I were you!

This is a review of Lucia di Lammermoor with Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczala, Mariusz Kwiecien and Ildar Ardrazazakov. Powerful stuff and the best Lucia I have seen. Most of the leads are east Europeans and they covered themselves in glory. Anna Netrebko was as superb as always and the baddies as bad as could be. Mariusz Kwiecien as Ashton was especially malevolent and creepy. Everything marvellous. Full marks.

The DVD was a present for my sister in Denmark and as it happens, she had heard that very production in "real life". However, what was missing from the DVD was that there were no subtitles - great shame and the reason I give only four stars.

Donizetti at his most powerful and a dream cast with Nerebko and Beczala. Compare this with that couples performances in the Met`s Don Pasquale. You really do have to marvel at them. The multi part singing at poor Lucia`s "wedding" certainly ranks with verdi`s quartetin the last act of Rigoletto.

Liked everything,disliked nothing,What do think I used this product for?Stupld question.