Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor

Theatre Royal, Glasgow, May/June 2007

  Photographs by Mark Hamilton courtesy of Scottish Opera.  

Cast and production

Lucia - Sally Silver

Edgardo - Bülent Bezdüz

Enrico - Andrew Schroeder

Raimondo - Alan Fairs

Normanno - Nicholas Ransley  

Alisa - Sarah Pring

Conductor - Julian Smith/James Grossmith

Director - John Doyle

Designer - Liz Ascroft

The production generally garnered favourable reviews.  Rowena Smith in The Guardian commented that "The abiding dourness will not be to all tastes, especially when juxtaposed with the excesses of Donizetti's music, but it adds to the atmosphere of claustrophobic intensity surrounding the characters" and praised "some excellent singing, particularly from South African soprano Sally Silver as Lucia".   Michael Tumelty in The Herald wrote that the setting " has to be seen", while acknowledging that "some will feel a dichotomy between the setting and the brilliant colours of Donizetti's delicious music". He again praised the singing, although not the audience, whose constant applause "was ruinous to the mood and concentration of the production."   Raymond Monelle in The Independent was generally positive although less sure about some of the singing.   Kenneth Walton (The Scotsman), no doubt reflecting on the company's recent problems, thought the production gave "Scottish Opera a thrilling springboard out of the current mixed season and into the next" and again was impressed by staging  and singing. All four endorsed the performance of the orchestra under Julian Smith, Raymond Monelle calling it "an exemplary achievement". A dissenting view came from Anna Picard in The Independent on Sunday who, while praising the "proud singing of the chorus, and a glorious orchestral performance under Julian Smith",  singled out the acting for particular criticism.

Normanno, Lucia and Alisa

Lucia and Edgardo

Lucia and Edgardo

The confrontation on Edgardo's return

The death of Lucia (Enrico and Lucia)