Germany Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor: Lübeck Theatre Soloists, Chorus and Extras, Hansestadt Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra / Takahiro Nagasaki (conductor). Lübeck Theatre, 6.7.2025. (DM-D)
Production:
Director – Anna Descher
Stage and Costume design – Tatjana Ivschina
Lighting design – Falk Hampel
Chorus director – Jan-Michael Krüger
Assistance with the concept – Maximilkian Hagermeyer
Dramaturgy – Sören Sarbeck
Cast:
Enrico Ashton – Jacob Scharman
Lucia – Sophia Theodorides
Edgardo – Konstantinos Klironomos
Arturo Bucklaw – Noah Schaul
Raimondo Bidebent – Changjun Lee
Alisa – Delia Bacher
Normanno – Wonjun Kim
When the curtain rose on this remarkable production of Lucia di Lammermoor, we could see a large, dark set of steep, rather narrow steps running all the way up to the ceiling, Tatjana Ivschina’s set itself consisting of a similar structure of steps, not rising but in parallel to the floor. When the chorus was on the stage, it would be located on the rising steps, sometimes at random, sometimes forming into shapes, in movements resembling the formations of a large flock of otherwise anonymous birds. In front of this backdrop of steps were a number of slightly brighter, bare tree trunks and autumn leaves on the ground, with more falling down from the ceiling. The leaves had already lost their autumnal colours. Lucia and Alisa wore Ivschina’s dark red elaborate evening gowns, whereas Edgardo wore more contemporary, nondescript trousers and T-shirt.
At some point, the trees were whisked away into the fly tower and the steep steps came much closer to the orchestra pit. In the process of forcing Lucia into the unwanted marriage, he took off her red robe, replacing it with a white wedding dress that extended all across the stage from left to right. The sheer size of the dress and its train made it impossible for Lucia to move. For the Act III madness scene, Lucia entered in an entirely white but different dress, bearing a set of plastic bags with freshly prepared stage blood, designed to appear, triggered on cue by remote control from backstage, in varying ways on her limbs and through her dress. At the end, covered with copious amounts of blood, she fetched a chair and sat right at the ramp to the orchestra pit, defiant and free, remaining there until the last bar of the music and curtain-down.
Anna Drescher’s production made complete sense, foregrounding the madness, Lucia’s oppression, the male gaze that she could only escape in death. The simple but evocative set and imaginative, suggestive costumes served well to throw plot ideas and concepts into relief.
Ensemble members sang all the roles except that of Lucia, which is quite an achievement, Jacob Scharfman portrayed Enrico as a weak man, a loser, overcome by his ambition. The beauty of Scharfman’s singing, the musicality of his arcs, the precision of intonation and the warm voice quality made his character more human than the plot might otherwise suggest. I was lucky to have been able to follow the career path of tenor Konstantinos Klironomos (Edgardo) over the past few years while he was a full member of the Bremerhaven resident company. Not having seen and heard him for about a year now, since he joined the Lübeck resident company, it was striking, in particular, how his lower register had developed. It was never weak but has improved considerably in comparison with what I remember. He delivered it with ease, almost relaxed, with breadth, and quite a baritonal element, equally efficiently across a range of different shades of volume. The high register was always secure, and intonation was accurate, as ever. There were still some passages where he administered too much pressure, whereas relaxing the lower register would have made him sound even more impressive. Given his vocal development over the past year, I have no doubt he will be able to address and resolve this over time.
Sophia Theodorides has sung Lucia in Osnabrück, Zürich and Düsseldorf. Her portrayal of the character was without exaggeration exceptional, even sensational. Her voice sounded beautiful at every moment, across registers and a wide range of volume. The pianissimos were delicate and blooming, her fortes clear, open and never shrill. Her intonation was perfect. She paced her voice intelligently through the long evening and in particular the long madness-scene in Act III. This is most certainly a singer destined to enrich opera productions across the world.
The remaining singers of the resident Lübeck ensemble did very well indeed. Noah Schaul impressed with his light tenor as Arturo, Changjun Lee radiated authority with his sonorous bass, Wonjung Kim’s tenor was pleasantly different from Schaul, and Delia Bacher allowed her warm mezzo-soprano voice to soar. Takahiro Nagasaki led the orchestra through the score with great assurance, supporting the singers and showing and a strong feeling for Donizetti’s intricate rhythmic patterns.
Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe