Lucia di Lammermoor ROH 2024

[Geoff]

15 hours ago, alison said:

Did they put a trigger warning on the production?

Yes. I mentioned it earlier in this thread.

[Timmie]

Well that was totally amazing last night. Nadine Sierra was astonishing. In L'elisir d'amore last year her voice didn’t entirely convince but her commitment to the performance made her an easy must book for Lucia. Last night her voice was stunning and her performance commitment 10/10. The love duet in the crypt, looking forward to the tragedy to come, was so overwhelming that the tears started rolling down my face just 30 minutes in.

 

Sierra’s ‘mad scene’ on and around the billiard table was mesmerising, and the quietest I have ever heard the audience at ROH. I’ve not seen that many operas but this has easily gone to ‘best so far’.

 

(Much less violent/bloody than the Diana Damrau recording and the cuts and edits a welcome improvement).

(Carmen was very good last week as well).

[Sim]

1 hour ago, Timmie said:

Well that was totally amazing last night. Nadine Sierra was astonishing. In L'elisir d'amore last year her voice didn’t entirely convince but her commitment to the performance made her an easy must book for Lucia. Last night her voice was stunning and her performance commitment 10/10. The love duet in the crypt, looking forward to the tragedy to come, was so overwhelming that the tears started rolling down my face just 30 minutes in.

 

Sierra’s ‘mad scene’ on and around the billiard table was mesmerising, and the quietest I have ever heard the audience at ROH. I’ve not seen that many operas but this has easily gone to ‘best so far’.

 

(Much less violent/bloody than the Diana Damrau recording and the cuts and edits a welcome improvement).

(Carmen was very good last week as well).

I agree.  I saw this cast on Tuesday and was bowled over.  Nadine was marvellous, and the production itself much less bloody and gory than I remembered.  I quite like the split stage scenario.  It worked very well for my friend who had never heard of Lucia before Tuesday, so being able to see what was going on in the background whilst arias were being sung really helped her understanding of the plot.  

[Scheherezade]

As I think I mentioned earlier, I too found Nadine Sierra's Lucia utterly thrilling, having, like @Timmie, been similarly disappointed in her Adina back in the Autumn.
 

I’m still not a fan of the split stage, although I can think of many things about the current opera productions that I dislike far more. 

[Geoff]

2 hours ago, Timmie said:

Well that was totally amazing last night. Nadine Sierra was astonishing. In L'elisir d'amore last year her voice didn’t entirely convince but her commitment to the performance made her an easy must book for Lucia. Last night her voice was stunning and her performance commitment 10/10. The love duet in the crypt, looking forward to the tragedy to come, was so overwhelming that the tears started rolling down my face just 30 minutes in.

 

Sierra’s ‘mad scene’ on and around the billiard table was mesmerising, and the quietest I have ever heard the audience at ROH. I’ve not seen that many operas but this has easily gone to ‘best so far’.

 

(Much less violent/bloody than the Diana Damrau recording and the cuts and edits a welcome improvement).

(Carmen was very good last week as well).

I just looked back at our exchange after you posted in March: so glad! 

[Timmie]

@Geoff, I enjoyed it so much! This morning my wife thought there was something wrong with me when I started randomly crying watching the election results 😄. (Apologies that I did like the ghosts).

 

I quite like the split stage, I was happy to focus on the singing side when ‘bloody’ stuff was going on in the bedroom😟. And I really like the young woman ghost, she adds to the atmosphere, and helps explain Lucia’s descent into madness, and when everyone appears to see the ghost at the end it makes you think again.

Edited May 3 by Timmie
comment to Geoff

[Timmie]

Has anyone seen Liv Redpath in this yet? I want to get another ticket and can’t decide between Redpath to see someone different or Sierra again as she was so amazing. (I’m also hoping the alisa40 code will start working for later dates which makes delaying for Redpath attractive 🤞).

[Sim]

16 minutes ago, Timmie said:

Has anyone seen Liv Redpath in this yet? I want to get another ticket and can’t decide between Redpath to see someone different or Sierra again as she was so amazing. (I’m also hoping the alisa40 code will start working for later dates which makes delaying for Redpath attractive 🤞).

A very knowledgeable opera fan told me that Liv is also excellent in the role, but I can't confirm that from my own experience as I haven't seen her.  I do love her voice though so I would go and see her if I could.

[Timmie]

Thanks. I'll see if I can find some of her recordings on YouTube.

[Geoff]

 

6 hours ago, Timmie said:

Has anyone seen Liv Redpath in this yet? I want to get another ticket and can’t decide between Redpath to see someone different or Sierra again as she was so amazing. (I’m also hoping the alisa40 code will start working for later dates which makes delaying for Redpath attractive 🤞).

 

You asked that before @Timmie And I'll stick with what I said before. Redpath's voice is so very different (and she neither misses certain top notes nor screeches, both of which I heard the excellent Sierra do more than once on more than one evening) that it will do your ears good to hear her. 

 

I too heard the up and coming Redpath - clearly tipped for the very top - at the dress rehearsal and second what @Bluebird wrote at the time, as here. 

 

On 18/04/2024 at 14:36, Bluebird said:

If you're going to get a second ticket, I can highly recommend Liv Redpath.  She sang in yesterday's Friends' General Rehearsal.  It was the first time I'd heard her sing and I was really impressed.  I felt she gave a superb performance and am delighted that I have a ticket for one of her shows. (I'll also be seeing Nadine Sierra).

 

 

 

[JohnS]

I too very much liked Liv Redpath in the General Rehearsal and will hopefully be seeing her on Friday (trains permitting) - sorry not to see Nadine Sierra but I only had the GR and Friday as Lucia performances.

[Timmie]

Thanks for the inputs, Redpath now booked for Friday (trains permitting)(had to cancel my Saturday Swan Lake as the trains didn’t permit 😞).

Very much looking forward to the performance. Not as good a seat as for Sierra but hopefully I’ll be able to make a comparison as well.

[Cayetana]

On 19/04/2024 at 23:32, Geoff said:

Gruberova as Lucia

Thank you, Geoff, for the suggestion and, for me, discovery of a wonderful interpretation and voice. To explore further!

[Timmie]

So I saw this on Friday and did very much enjoy the performance, I loved Liv Redpath’s voice, pure and sweet and able to go very loud, and quite deep at times. If someone asked me what a soprano sounded like I would point at Liv Redpath. I did however enjoy the previous week’s performance so much more, for me Nadine Sierra’s voice was more thrilling and exciting with a greater expression of the coloratura parts. Maybe not as note-perfect, but I’m not sure if my ears are able to detect that.

 

On the production front, I saw last week’s performance from the stalls circle, near the centre, and didn’t find the blood particularly unpleasant and didn’t notice a running tap. I didn’t watch the miscarriage scene either time, but last night from mid-amphi the blood on Lucia’s nightdress was awful so I closed my eyes for most of the mad scene. The running tap was very noticeable and distracting all through Edgardo’s solo.  I guess the acoustics of that tap are very seat-position sensitive. I do think they need to make some more changes in the production, if I’d seen Lucia from the amphi the first time I may not have gone again.

 

(The rest of the cast were excellent with only Edgardo changing between the performances).