[Met Performance] CID:97900



Lucia di Lammermoor
Metropolitan Opera House, Fri, January 6, 1928




Lucia di Lammermoor (139)
Gaetano Donizetti | Salvadore Cammarano
Lucia
Amelita Galli-Curci

Edgardo
Giovanni Martinelli

Enrico
Giuseppe De Luca

Raimondo
Ezio Pinza

Normanno
Giordano Paltrinieri

Alisa
Minnie Egener

Arturo
Alfio Tedesco


Conductor
Vincenzo Bellezza







Review 1:

Review of W. J. Henderson in the New York Sun

Mme. Galli-Curci Sings in 'Lucia'

An earnest reader of the Sun wrote a letter to this department last season declaring that he had lost all confidence in it because the editor refused to assert that Mme. Galli-Curci's voice was one of the great ones of operatic history. The editor wondered where he would find a newspaper that would say it. But this season the wonder has increased since it must be evident to all competent observers that the prima donna's voice has not been in perfect condition in either of the two performances in which she has appeared.

It is also incontestable that this has not had the slightest effect on opera-goers who have the assurance that they are listening to the famous Mme. Galli-Curci, and are therefore duly elated and uplifted. The distinguished prima donna sang the name part in Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" last evening, and there was not an unsold seat in the theater. The lady's vocal estate was a little better than at the first performance of the season, and this was cause for gratitude.

There is nothing new to say about the soprano's offering to the public. Mme. Galli-Curci has not advanced in her art since she was introduced to this public. She was always a singer of placid polish and undisturbed style. She has changed in nothing except in the diminution of the volume and limpidity of her tones. She still shows understanding in the phrasing and accentuation of her recitatives, but opera audiences are not interest in recitative and do not care that their delivery is the foundation of style. Mme. Galli-Curci still sings staccato cleanly and executes some of her runs neatly. She shows some musical appreciation in her airs, but she rarely gets below their surface.

The principal associates of the soprano last evening were Mr. Martinelli as Edgardo and Mr. De Luca as Enrico. These singers have been heard so often in these roles that it is not necessary to say more than that they had their vocal powers in good working order and therefore gave sufficient pleasure to their hearers. The performance as a whole moved along in the customary "Lucia" manner, and Mr. Bellezza at the baton proved to be a safe and sane master of ceremonies.



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