April 11, Landmark Theater, Richmond
Manon Strauss Evrard, the soprano who dazzled Virginia Opera audiences last fall in "The Tales of Hoffmann," returned to the company
for her debut in the title role of Donizetti’s "Lucia di Lammermoor." Judging by her performance in the first of two stagings in Richmond (midway through a three-city run), Evrard promises to be one of the leading Lucias of her generation.She has the range, flexibility and stamina for this notoriously demanding bel canto role. She negotiated the showpiece arias, from "Regnava nel silenzio" in Act 1 to the great mad scene of Act 3, securely and without audible strain, and showed remarkable tonal consistency throughout the evening.
Vocal equipment, however, is not her only asset – or even her principal one. Evrard projects Lucia’s psychic fragility from the start, and intensifies it step by step, scene to scene. Every facial expression, every gesture, as well as every quaver of the voice, anticipate the character’s ultimate breakdown.
One wonders, though, whether Evrard was a bit too systematic in her emotional deconstruction of Lucia. The mad scene, riveting as it was – sung to a dead-silent house – somehow lacked the full measure of pathos and shock. Perhaps we saw it coming too clearly too soon.
"Lucia di Lammermoor" always risks becoming "The Soprano," with Lucia completely overshadowing the rest of the cast. This, happily, is no such production. The three principal male roles are strongly cast, and at least two of the men actually rival Evrard in making a vocal impression.
They are baritone Sebastian Catana, as Enrico, Lucia’s villanous brother – here as ominously forceful as a Scarpia or Iago – and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn, as Raimondo, the family chaplain who not altogether willingly goes along with Enrico’s plan for the politically advantageous marriage of Lucia and the Lord Arturo.
Tenor Israel Lozano, as Edgardo, the dispossessed master of the estate Enrico has seized and Lucia’s partner in a secret betrothal, did not summon the tone to go with his passion in Act 1, but grew in voice and presence as the drama progresssed. His death scene in Act 3 – following the Lucia’s mad scene, the toughest of acts to follow – packed a satisfyingly tragic punch.
Tenor Gregario González was suitably suave as Arturo. Tenor Brandon Wood and mezzo-soprano Amanda Ingram were vocally underpowered in the supporting roles of Normanno and Alisa, although Ingram held her own in a nicely balanced rendition of the famous Act 2 sextet.
The Virginia Opera Chorus, prepared by Joseph Walsh, was in unusually robust form, and Peter Mark, the Virginia Opera's artistic director, obtained a solid, warmly sonorous performance from members of the Richmond Symphony. Flutist Mary Boodell ably partnered Evrard in the mad scene, and the horn section enhanced the somber atmospherics of Edgardo’s death scene.
Stage director Dorothy Danner aimed for and achieved a darkly natural mode of romantic melodrama. Michael Yeargan’s set is monumental and moodily evocative, although getting it into place on the Landmark Theater stage proved to be aggravatingly noisy business.
Further performances are at 2:30 p.m. April 13 at Richmond’s Landmark Theater (tickets: $20-$85); 8 p.m. April 18 and 2 p.m. April 20 at the Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax (tickets: $44-$94). Information: (804) 262-8003 (Ticketmaster, Richmond); (888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com, Fairfax); www.vaopera.org