How do you solve a problem like Lucia? Murder, madness, abuse, possibly even incest, all set to a soundtrack of rollicking, rum-ti-tum tunes. Add to that a Scottish setting (nothing sabotages dramatic seriousness quite like a kilt, just ask Mel Gibson) and you have Gilbert & Sullivan in an Italian accent, Ruddigore with a cigarette and a suntan.
Recently at the Royal Opera House Katie Mitchell tried to naturalise Donizetti’s opera into submission, but ended up tussling with a score she clearly didn’t trust and a cast who didn’t seem to trust her, giving her audience what she wanted Lucia to be, rather than what’s actually there. Returning, after that, to David Alden’s English National Opera production (premièred in 2008, and last revived in 2010) feels like coming home.
That Alden’s is ENO’s first ever production says a lot about the piece, or at least how it is perceived. In the unspoken division of repertoire, Lucia belongs up the road at Covent Garden; it’s a star vehicle — a great role (and an even greater scene) with an opera attached.
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