Lucia has never been at the top of my list of favorite opera war horses. It certainly has one of the great coloratura show pieces, and as a whole, there really isn't anything wrong with it. For my money, there isn't quite as much right with it as one might wish, but it's a perfectly pleasant way to while away an afternoon (or midday, in HD), and this presentation, even given its improvisational touches, is nothing to be ashamed of.Well, bully for me, and my snotty little hick-town dismissiveness. At least you'd think I could get it halfway right. But Wednesday night, stuck in a hotel room and fiddling with the remote, I stumbled on a PBS replay of the same performance and--yes, you anticipate me, it was wonderful. Okay, maybe not perfect: Anna Netrebko really is a bit to plump and rosy for the role of hag-ridden victim. But as a total effect--music, staging, integration of cast and crew--it was gripping. I had to make an early start the next morning, but I couldn't resist hanging on until the last chord.
Or maybe some mischief-maker just hacked his way into the blog...
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