Lucia diLammermoorxs not often thought of

as a "conductor's opera."
DAVID J. BAKER offers a seleetive survey of how
certain macstros have responded to the
bel canto masterpiece.

The. famous bel canto

resurgence that started in the
1950s is generally attributed to
singers such as Maria Callas and
Joan Sutherland. Standing in their
shadows, however, were conductors
who had every bit as much to do
with this revival as the star divas. If
the singers made Lucia suddenly
popular again, recordings show
that the conductors ok the postwar
era did their utmost to make it
respectable. In the process, they
opened up vast interpretive hori-
zons in a form once considered rhe
absolute fiefdom ofthe singer.
To get an idea of what these
musicians were reacting against,
consider Fausto Cleva's studio
recording of Donizetti's warhorse,
starring the last of the great
"canaries," Lily Pons. Actually, in
this 1954 set, recorded when Pons
was in her mid-fifties, Cleva is con-
ducting two different perfor-
mances. In Lucia's set pieces he is
all accommodation, either accompanying her with metronomic regularity or bringing things to a near halt for
the Pons high flights that were her trademark. There was apparently no way to capture the sopranos strengths
without this stop-and-start pacing. Yet other passages in the score find him exploring instrumental color, pur-
poseful rubato and other expressive effects. The plaintive oboe lines that accompany Lucia's entrance in Act II
for her confrontation with Enrico have an emotive force missing from the Pons performance.
If Cleva (1902-71) looks back to the permissive extremes ofthe earlier bel canto tradition, a different school
emerges in the person ofTullio Serafin (1878-1968), a regular partner of Maria Callas in this repertoire in the
1950s. The Serafin approach, as heard on the 1953 EMI recording o^ Lucia di Lnnmeroor with Callas, crystal-
lizes the view ofthe work as music dnmia, the sense that — as most conductors insist today — embellishments,
for instance, must serve a communicative purpose. Serafin brings propulsive rhythms to the melodies while

OPERA NEWS
 « ^

Pritchard, above, led Sutherland's lint ims recording; Serafin, below,

was Ihe most influential /(/rutonductor of ttie twentieth century

allowing the soprano several traditional grows overheated (in some of the more
interpolations. The bel canto style is palpa- maudlin moments of Callas's "Alfin son
ble in the legato shape of the melodies, a tua"), the inventive rubato, emphasized by
meaningful placement of accents and a flex- varied dynamics, is convincing and mean-
ible "breathing" quality to extended lines. \ ingRil. The runs and trills, especially when
Nowhere is this more evident than in applied full voice or with dark shadings,
Lucia's Act I cavatina, "Regnava nel silen- very nearly lose their decorative character.
zio," which becomes a masterful example of If any reminder were needed ofthe con-
sung narrative. Callas suffers some unchar- ductor's contribution to this performance
acteristic pitch trouble in one significant style (and even to the soprano's over-
passage, the rapid series of trills that con- whelming interpretation), we need only
cludes "Regnava." Here, a slower tempo to follow Tito Gobbi and Giuseppe di Ste-
accommodate the soprano would have fano in their full-bodied commitment to
seemed perfectly natural, even obligatory, their roles. All the principals, note for note
to some conductors. Serafin maintains the and word for word, show an almost reli-
pace even at the expense of imperfections. gious pursuit ofa performance ideal.
The initial impact of this recording was, Decades earlier, Serafin had helped lay
of course, vocal. Who had ever heard a the groundwork for a bel canto explo-
Lucia of Callas's emotional range and intensity, all of it sealed ration, starting with his 1927 Met revival of Bellini's Norma, a
with a timbre, or several timbres, of haunting color? In retro- work that had been in mothballs for some time. In his autobio-
spect, however, we can sense that Callas was realizing an inter- graphical reminiscences, Serafm speaks of the eighteen months
pretation of Serafin's design, through the use of manifold he spent teaching the role of Norma to a reluctant Rosa Pon-
differentiations of timbre and pacing. Even when the emotion selle. His approach emphasized more than fioriture: "Finally," he

MARCH 2008
recalls, "she had found her inner fire." The conductor was a
teacher and innovator, who spent a year coaching Ezio Pinza fbr
Don Giovanni, revived Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in Rome, often con-
ducted Wagner in Italian and, in 1942, gave Wozzeck its Italian
premiere. For him, ever)' work was apparently a "conductor's
opera." Everyone who came along after the 1950s learned from
Serafin. When I asked five current conductors about influences
on their approach to Lucia, all cited Serafin.
It is instructive to hear Serafin with an artist as different from
Callas as Joan Sutherland, in excerpts from one of the legendary
Covent Garden perfbrm;mces that introduced her in the role, in
February 1959. Her mad scene at this point in her career is not
only brilliantly precise; it is expressive, with phrases meaningful-
ly, elegantly sculpted and sensitive to the words, in a manner we
don't normally associate with Sutherland in her maturity. This
reading ofthe scene, in other words, bears Serafin's unmistakable
fingerprint. Richard Bonynge confirms this link between
Sutherland and Serafm. "Covent Garden sent Joan to Venice to
study with him before [her] first Lucia" he recalls. When the
soprano came down with a cold, the maestro spent time work-
ing with Bonynge on various Donizetti and BeUini scores. "He
must have been about eighty years of age," Bonynge recalls. "He
was a real link to the past."
As recordings demonstrate, Serafin also dominated the future.
The Serafin conception ofthe mad scene, for instance, not onty
Schippers off ens
what could he ealled
an anthology of
\A\c\2iStylistks.
turns tip in Sutherland's early work but haunts the star-studded
Lucia [hat paired Callas with Herbert von Karajan in Berlin in
1955. On the recording of one of those performances, one can
sense Karajan (1908-89) listening to Callas in the mad scene, as
if fascinated. One can also sense him channeling Serafin, though
of course adding his own extreme interpretive stamp. The phras-
es of "Alfin son tua" are stretched just a bit farther, and the pace
is even slower at times, in classic Karajan reinventive mode.
But there was more. And it is in these other aspects that Kara-
jan exerted his own influence on future conductors. 'Fhe prelude
gives warning signs of a Late Romantic bias, with massed vol-
umes and distinctive accents, and the Lucia-Edgardo scene in
Act I is contrary to Italian tradition. The soprano aria is per-
formed with less rubato than usual, and by the time we reach
"Verranno a te," the meter is rigid through all the repeats. Kara-
jan's way of differentiating them is through orchestral color
rather than tempo; the final reprise, in soprano—tenor unison, is
washed in a heavy swirl of strings suggesting an era well past that
of Donizetti. The boosted orchestra has become a participant,
not just a Donizettian commentator.
Of course, Donizetti offers much richer fodder than, say,
Bellini for an orchestral conductor, and Karajan helps make us
aware ofthe often wonderful instrumental effects in the score —
the many uses of horns and flute, emphatic timpani and fine
solo passages for oboe and cello, to name a few. The efTects are
exaggerated here, stiggesting what might have occurred if Wag-
ner had conducted the work (as he did Bellini's IM SonnamhuLi).
What grips the listener again and again is the combination of
these highlighted instrumental effects with Karajan's dramatic
pacing and distinctive shaping. Serafin had already shown what
could be done, with the help of dynamic tempos and intelligent
singers, in the less-famous material of Act II; Karajan adds
orchestral fillips to the mix, to fascinating effect. (Has the dance-
hke string melody that weaves through die act ever sounded less
trivial?) He is clearly going overboard in the rushed finale (an
ensemble that Bonynge thinks encourages cutting). Fhe conduc-
tor's extremist interventions, however, go awry in the final scene,
where he wildly overworks the brass and percussion and then
seems to force di Stefano into comatose pacing and fussy expres-
sive details.
It's something of a relief, in contrast, to experience the dis-
creetly effective performance that John Pritchard elicits from
Joan Sutherland and some lesser-known singers in her 1961
complete Lucia. Pritchard (1921-89), an English conductor
noted as much fbr his Mozart, Strauss, Britten andTippett as for
Italian opera, got his real start following World War II at the
Glyndebourne Festival, where things ofren happen on an inti-
mate scale. With Pritchard, the influences of Serafin and Karajan
seem balanced; they are also slightly muted, an example ot what
conductor David Parry calls the Donizetti conducting ideal of
"the art that conceals art." We hear Sutherland in pristine vocal
OPERA NEWS
condition, still following what seems
to be the basic Serafin template,
though the timbre now favors light-
ness.
Pritchard's main triumph may be
the final scene, in which a light-
toned Renato Cioni is enabled to
make dramatic effects without
straining either his own natural lim-
its or the graceful melodious frame.
Where tenors usually have to draw
on their last forte resources for the
repeated high phrase of "bell'aima
innamorata," Pritchard tamps down
the volume until the most emphatic
phrase comes out piano. Here and in
several other details, the conductor
weaves a texture that encourages gen-
tle effects, suggesting an old-fash-
ioned bel canto flavor that puts a
premium on plaintive grace.
Two versions from the 1970s
tinderline the differences between the
studio and the opera house. Well
versed in this repertoire, American
conductor T h o m a s Schippers
(I93Q_77) led Maria Callas in
Cherubini's Medea and Beverly Sills
in her Milan debut in Rossini's L'Assedio di Gorinto. In his 1970 and with considerable shapeliness to complement the bel canco-
Lucia recording, as if to capitalize on the strengths of Beverly Sills style ornamentation. He also makes the most of the energy of
as a soprano d'agilith, he offers the most ornately decorated Lucia his other principals, especially in Pavarotti's almost startlingly
imaginable, with a particular tendency to move everything possi- impassioned final scene.
ble upward into Sills's "money" register. This peppy live Lucia may be pardy the result ofthe soprano's
Schippers presents the first well-nigh complete Lucia., and less than ideal vocal form on the occasion (which would have
one filled with careful details and unusual bonuses such as thun- discouraged any lingering over phrases), but undeniably Bon-
der, rattling swords and other sound effects, as well as the use of ynge had gone through a considerable transition since he
the glass harmonica, which works better on disc than it does in a launched his conducting career. "I don't feel scholarly," he
vast auditorium such as the Met. In his conducting, too, Schip- admits. "I love to read, I love to inform myself But to me, con-
pers offers what could be called an anthology Q{ Lucia stylistics. ducting is a matter of creating some theater and helping the
Along with unusually ornate be! canto gingerbread, we hear Set- singers to create their roles and do something interesting, and
afin's mad-scene-pliis and plenty of Karajan's instrumental ton- the older I get, the more Fm interested in just that."
nage — not to mention Herbert-style rhythmic aberrations. Is this emphasis on drama an attempt to compensate for the
Each tempo is exaggerated, so in preparation for a whirlwind comparative lack of golden-age throats and acrobatic techniques
Act II finale we have a fairly slack sextet. In most of his effects, today? Both in their words and in their performances, conduc-
one cannot fail to enjoy this lavish care and the production val- tors of Donizetti's opera in recent years (a group that includes
ues typical of the LP complete-opera heyday. Edoardo Miiller, Gharles Mackerras, David Parry, Patrick Sum-
Richard Bonynge, vocal coach and husband of Joan Suther- mers, Will Crutchfleld, James Levine and many more) have
land, began to conduct her performances starting in 1962 and taken bel canto down offthe pedestal that was built for it in the
has continued to specialize in bel canto repertoire since her 1960s. The dramatic approach they espouse is more universal as
retirement. His 1975 Chicago Lyric performance with Suther- well as pragmatic.
land (on the set that includes the Serafin excerpts from 1959) Bonynge recalls one bit of advice from Serafin. When he
might be called Scrafin-Hte. Bonynge's tempos are steadier and sought the maestro's help in finding the right tempo for "Qui ia
faster. But you won't hear a supercharged gutsy effect such as the voce," from I Puritani, Serafin had a simple response: "My dear,
whirlwind accelerando Serafin gives to the lines sung by the cho- the tempo is the one that your singer can sing it at." •
rus and other principals befbre Lucia's reprise of "Spargi d'amaro
pianto," to cite one example. Still, Bonynge conducts briskly DAVID j . RAKER is a writer and translator based in Connecticut.

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