Word: donizetti
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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COMPOSER: GAETANO DONIZETTI...
...program note to her startling, macabre -- and, on opening night, lustily booed -- new production of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera, Francesca Zambello cites as inspiration the gloomy tales of Edgar Allan Poe and the brooding landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich, both contemporaries of the composer. Maybe. But those with an eye for contemporary culture -- and the weekly grosses of Francis Ford Coppola's latest film in Variety -- can see that the real influence is one Mr. Zeitgeist. The Bride of Dracula, anybody...
What may have most roused the normally comatose Met audience was the production's feminist subtext. This Lucia is less a helpless damsel in distress than a strong, sexual woman who chooses death before dishonor -- Elektra's first cousin. Although she had some vocal difficulties on opening night (Donizetti's high notes are best not delivered while the soprano is on her knees or flat on her back), reigning bel canto diva June Anderson's forceful stage presence ensures that the heroine gives as good as she gets. Other notables include a promising American tenor, Richard Leech, as Lucia...