Lucia di Lammermoor (review)

Living Stage is documenting the career of Alfredo Kraus in a series of live releases on compact disc. Joining a lengthening list that already includes L'elisir d'amore, Les pêcheurs de perles, Mefistofele, Lucrezia Borgia, L'heure espagnole, and La traviata is this 1983 performance of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Teatro Comunale in Florence. Kraus's Edgardo is so well documented—at least three live recordings from 1963, 1970, and 1972, all in his vocal prime, and a commercial recording for EMI from 1983 have been issued—that one wonders why Living Stage decided to release this mediocre Lucia.

On the obverse of the jewel box, Living Stage claims—with a large exclamation point—"This edition of Lucia di Lammermoor is complete!" The cuts, however, begin at the end of Enrico's entrance cavatina and continue in almost every scene, from an excision in the Lucia-Edgardo duet to cuts in the duets for Lucia and Enrico and for Lucia and Raimondo, as well as in the second-act finale. A large chunk of music is also missing from the Wolf's Crag duet, misidentified by Living Stage as "the scene of Part II (beginning of Act II) set in Wolferag's [sic] Tower. . . ." Both the Mad Scene and Edgardo's final scene are also trimmed. This monaural recording, taped in the house, features harsh sound, imperfect balances between voice and orchestra, and blurred, overloaded orchestral tutti.

Anderson and Kraus supply the only reasons for seeking out this live performance. Both rise to the considerable challenges of the last act. At Lucia's entrance in the Mad Scene, Anderson's disembodied voice floats from the rear of the stage. The effect is eerie. As the scene progresses, Anderson characterizes the words and shades her tone to fine effect. Her voice is steady and lustrous as it soars over the chorus and then skyrockets through the cadenza. She caps the cadenza with a high E-flat that is neither soft nor long sustained. In "Spargi d'amaro pianto," Anderson sings with notable vocal control, aside from a few sketchy trills. The sound is shimmering, and the technical facility quite dazzling. She rounds off the scene with a full-voiced E-flat that does not dominate the ensemble.

After performing Edgardo for more than two decades, Kraus has the music etched in his voice. He declaims "Tombe degl'avi miei" incisively, in tones vigorous and varied. He manages to reduce his voice to a finespun piano in "Tu delle gioie in seno" and then elegantly traces "Fra poco a me." The tone may be grainy, but the singing is sovereign as Kraus alternates between suave lyricism and urgent declamation. The tenor voices Edgardo's interjections over the chorus with growing anxiety and then caresses the opening of "Tu che a Dio" in a stream of gently molded sound. Deeply moving in Edgardo's dying moments, Kraus sounds like a great singer giving a great performance.

The first two acts find the two vocal stars in uneven form. From her first entrance, Anderson's singing is marred by glassy tone and uneven vibrato—some phrases emerge smoothly, others waver unevenly. Interpolating all the traditional high notes, Anderson molds Lucia's entrance cavatina stiffly, without much rhythmic play or tonal variety. In the two duets that open the second act, the soprano continues to sing erratically. She creates little magic in her plain voicing of Lucia's plaintive larghetto "Soffriva nel pianto," but she does cap the scene with a full-voiced high D. The duet with Raimondo goes better, despite the vocal inconsistencies. Finally, at "O sventurato amore," Anderson strikes form, delivering the music in firm, unclouded tones that are sensitively shaded. She contributes some ringing high notes to the ensemble in the Wedding Scene.

Kraus raises the vocal temperature at Edgardo's first entrance. His singing is so incisive and keenly projected, he arrests attention. Despite the vigor of his attack and the biting clarity of his diction, however, he sounds below form. At full voice, a beat appears in...