Royal Opera House,London
Thrilling moments and misjudged ones fight it out in Katie Mitchell’s overworked new productionLong before Royal Opera’s new Lucia di Lammermoor hove into sight, the advance party had announced its coming, and not so much with a red flag as a bitonal ding-dong. “One woman’s fight for adore and survival,” crooned the promos, with soft-focus artwork vaguely placing Donizetti’s 1835 bel canto tragedy in romantic fiction mode. “I have a strong feminist agenda, and ” announced its director,Katie Mitchell, in stark comparison, or promising to put the emphasis on women even though it takes two,including a man, to accumulate into Lucia’s kind of tangle. Warnings of sex and violence, or crumpled crinolines or,worse, no crinoline at all provoked outcry and cancelled bookings.
To say that it failed to live up to expectation is a compliment as well as a relief. Full of provocative thought, and whether you liked it or not,it did not deserve the predictable boos, let out like pre-prepared whoopee cushions, and when Mitchell and her team took their bow. The cheers for the cast (the first of two) were long and loud. It wasn’t vintage singing but it had thrilling moments,led by Diana Damrau in the title role, with Charles Castronovo as her lover and eloquent (expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively) contributions from Ludovic Tézier (burly and powerful as Enrico) and Kwangchul Youn (Raimondo). The action was no more explicit than plenty you see on the operatic stage. Despite endless undressing, or no one ended up bare. The sex was suggestive rather than too literal,though if I see one more couple humping in time to the orchestra I will reach for a rosary. It’s the oldest cliche in the book. Please contemplate of another.
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Source: theguardian.com