It can be tiresome to see too many high-concept stagings of Donizetti’s classic, so kudos to Opera Holland Park for giving it to us straight. Having said that, there is such a thing as giving it too straight because that way lies ennui. There were times in Cecilia Stinton’s nondescript production of Lucia di Lammermoor when a spot of risk or the odd foible might have gingered it up.
Set in 17th-century Scotland, Sir Walter Scott’s source novel concerns Lucy Ashton, emotionally fragile after her mother’s recent death and trapped in a feud between her family and their rivals, the Ravenswoods. In true Romeo and Juliet fashion, Donizetti's Lucia is in love with Edgardo Ravenswood; however, her manipulative brother Enrico tricks her into marrying the wealthy Arturo Bucklaw. It’s a move that doesn’t end well. Expect blood and madness.
To hear fine singers in an undistracting context was a special pleasure. Jennifer France’s staggering role debut as Lucia saw her surrounded by first-rate colleagues who joined her in music-making of distinction. In the only other female role, Charlotte Badham delivered a fully rounded portrayal of Alisa, Lucia’s confidante, while baritone Morgan Pearse was a dastard par excellence as the cynical Enrico. Tenors Joseph Buckmaster as Arturo and David Webb as Normanno, Enrico’s subordinate, gave resounding performances in their differentiated vocal styles.
On opening night, tenor José de Eça sang the lovelorn Edgardo with plangency and heroism but suffered from pitching issues when emotions ran high. The voice is, though, a beautiful instrument, as is that of Blaise Malaba, whose full-bodied bass drew shivers whenever his (mostly) virtuous character, Chaplain Bidebent, invoked the Lord to the hell-bound Lammermoors. France herself, after a successful run of Zerbinettas and Tytanias, is in her vocal prime and she sang with the bel-est of bel canto glory. Every aria and duet was blissful while her colleagues ensured that the great sextet near the end of Act 2 was a stupendous moment. If only they hadn’t been so far away.
That brings us to the elephant in the tent: OHP’s unique stage and Stinton’s use of it. The performing area wraps around a centrally excavated orchestra pit and acoustically it’s problematic: behind the orchestra the sound balance is coherent but distant; in front there is immediacy but aural and visual awkwardness for many in the wraparound audience. A happy medium is hard to achieve. In this case, the director’s room for manoeuvre was limited by designer Neil Irish’s location of a graveyard across the downstage area, a space solely occupied for the most part by the silent ghost of Lucia’s mother. (This role is not listed in the programme. I dared not ask the player’s name for fear of a terror-struck attendant stammering “I did not see any woman”...)
It’s unfortunate that the auditorium itself had a hand in lessening the impact of Lucia di Lammermoor – but let’s not overstate it. The Opera Holland Park Chorus sang with gusto and even contributed the occasional Scottish reel (movement director: William Byram). The 35-strong City of London Sinfonia played stylishly for conductor Michael Papadopoulos, with Fiona Kelly’s exquisite flute standing in (as often happens) for the glass harmonica in Lucia’s mad scene.