The Guardian
‘(Elizabeth Futral) is extremely telling. Vocally secure, there's a sensuality in the sound that reminds us that it is Lucia's sexuality that the other characters find problematic... Paul Charles Clarke is a glorious Edgardo, his seductive glamour masking both his lethal temper and disastrous, obsessive perfectionism. As Enrico Alan Opie swivels between bullying and insidious manipulation, while Peter Rose is unctuously hypocritical as Raimondo... David Parry, conducting, takes the score slowly, generating an atmosphere of oppressive malignancy.’
Tragic drama in three acts
Libretto by Salvatore Cammarano
after Walter Scott's novel, The Bride of Lammermoor
English translation by David Parry
The Cast
Elizabeth Futral, soprano - Lucia
Alan Opie, baritone - Enrico Ashton
Peter Wedd, tenor (PMF Scholar)
-
Lord Arturo Bucklaw
Paul Charles Clarke, tenor - Edgardo
Peter Rose, bass - Raimondo Bidebent
Christine Rice, mezzo-soprano (PMF Scholar) - Alisa
Stephen Chaundy, tenor (PMF Scholar) - Normanno
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Philharmonia Orchestra
David Parry - conductor
Recorded in Blackheath Halls, London
2-6 September 2001
Producer - Brian Couzens
Sound engineer - Ralph Couzens
Assistant engineers - Christopher Brooke
and Michael Common
Opera Now
'Futral's Lucia is earnest and earthy, not so much a victim as a woman who takes things into her own dagger-clutching hands... Futral can carry a line musically with great intelligence and allure and her voice rides over the ensembles with warmth and beauty... It is a pleasure to hear new ornaments and unconventional tempos in much of Lucia's material, and the soprano's voicing of the mad scene's central moment, "At last you hold me", is affectionately calm and sweet. Opie's Enrico is high-strung and edgy, impatient from the get-go as he jumps on entrances with a snarl. The baritone sounds appropriately duplicitous in his duet with Lucia, obsequious toward Arturo and dangerously volatile with Edgardo. Throughout Opie provides plenty of visceral excitement... Musically the performance is polished, especially in the details of phrasing and articulation in ensembles. The chorus sings beautifully, the all-important horns sound gorgeous.'
