Search - Donizetti, Moffo, Bergonzi :: Lucia Di Lammermoor

Lucia with Moffo and Bergonzi--a neglected gem!

L. E. Cantrell | Vancouver, British Columbia Canada | 05/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Somehow this performance has gotten lost amid the variously competing versions from Callas, Sutherland, Sills and Caballe. That's too bad, for this is an intelligently planned, precisely executed and beautifully sung essay on Donizetti's grand old warhorse of an opera.Too often we judge a performer of Lucia by the degree of her adherence to or departure from the standard laid down by our favorite diva. Try to put aside memories of the sacred one long enough to judge Moffo purely on her own merits. I believe that you will find in her an essential rightness of characterization, vocal quality and dramatic arc.Bergonzi is in fine form, singing like a slightly berserk angel. His Edgardo, at the very least, equals that of any tenor who has ever recorded the role and is better by far than most.A quite unexpected virtue of this set lies in the excellent casting of the secondary roles. The tenor portraying Lord Arturo Bucklaw, for example, actually sounds capable of dealing with that intruding lout, Edgardo. For once, the big confrontation scene achored by the famous sextet makes dramatic sense.This re-issue seems once again to have faded away. If you find it second-hand, by all means snap it up!"

Now how could they do this?

The Cultural Observer | 02/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't believe Anna Moffo's Lucia is now out of print. It was such a great recording! Anna Moffo's singing was truly beautiful and heartfelt. Her bel canto training is truly exemplified here as she tackles Lucia's famous and challenging parts with the finesse of a singing actress. Carlo Bergonzi makes a great partner to this overlooked American soprano. His singing of Edgardo's part is simply one of the greatest I've ever heard in ages. It was just too bad that this was overshadowed by Sill's and Sutherland's Lucias, which were in my opinion just plain bad taste done in the name of bel canto. They couldn't portray Lucia's madness the way Moffo could, nor could they look the "Lucia look". Moffo was beautiful, while Sutherland (ha!) and Sills never looked dramatic enough. RCA should release this opera again for the sake of the public. It is truly a loss to have this recording leave us."

Great Lucia indeed

The Cultural Observer | 05/21/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I owned this Lucia set, along with about ten others. Moffo was a great coloratura, wonderful high notes, and a beautiful lyric soprano voice. On top of all that, she was simply the most beautiful woman in all of opera, and a great actress also. But she didn't have a trill, and for that reason, I prefer perhaps a handfuls of other colorturas over her, vocally, that is. But as an actress, I would put her in the same category as Callas and Sills. And of course Moffo had a far superior voice than both of them. I do feel that this was a wonderful recording, certainly a lot of beautiful singing. But look to Sutherland's two early sets for the definitive version of Lucia. A lot of people don't know this, but at the same time that Sutherland's star started to eclipse all others in the operatic heavens, the Met had two good Lucias already...Moffo and Scotto. But Bing had no choice but to accept Sutherland because she was the toast of the entire world. To that extent, Callas was left out. After her legendary Met debut, on which she received over 30 curtain calls after the mad scene, Sutherland became, without question the greatest Lucia of this and perhaps any other century. And who can dispute her amazing talents? Dame Joan combined all the vocal powers we would expect from a true dramatic colortura soprano, the most gorgeous and sensuous tone before the public, Olympian size high notes, and the most phenomenal technique ever, including a perfect trill! But had Sutherland not appeared, I believe that Moffo would have captured the entire operatic world! But because of Sutherland's complete dominance in the 60's and 70's, many talents were ignored. Moffo was certainly one of the great talents. She had a brighter tone than Callas, but darker than the then young Sutherland. I really believe that Moffo was probably the most underrated singer of our time. She had it all, lovely voice, great technique, great acting ability, artistry, and a strikingly beautiful women. She was a great Lucia, Violetta, and Mimi."