This was a performance that, musically and dramatically, got better as the evening progressed – although the orchestra (the MAV symphony, presumably to give the opera house orchestra a rest as they were in the middle of a Ring cycle) were consistently first-rate and more or less of the quality of the resident orchestra. The conductor Antonella Allemondi kept up a good tight rhythmic drive so that there was no slacking or flabbiness which would detract from the unfolding of the drama.
The set by Balazs Cziegler with costumes by Ildi Tihanyi were dourly dark, largely monochrome with occasional flashes of limited colour (Lucia’s diaphanous dress in Act) with the mens’ ones accented with leather – effective if a little clichéd. The set itself had an effective balcony rear and centre where Lucia made her post-killing first appearance, her blood-soaked dress giving a certain Carrie vibe, but this was more a stylized indication of the murder – not least as her arms and hands were completely clean. All the action was front and centre.
The opening was not promising as the chorus movements came across as overly controlled as they always moved en masse, sang static, then moved. The dancing (?) looked an awkward mix of modern moves and 19thC. ballroom. Not convincing, visually or dramatically. The one time the chorus movement was dramatically effective was in the brief scene before Lucia’s mad scene, where the dance celebrations of the wedding were quite wildly and effectively uninhibited.
Csaba Szegedi as the controlling brother Enrico got more impressive, dramatically and vocally as the evening progressed and his sense of the character through movement and gesture became less cartoon-villain like as the drama unfolded and his finely resonant voice was well suited to the role. The sweet-voiced Szappanos made the most of the rather ungrateful role of Arturo. Istvan Horvath as Edgardo made a rather indifferent start vocally but he really warmed into the role and by his final scene, he was very fine indeed, with a lovely line and an effective communication of his agony at this stage in the drama. But it was Gabor Bretz who, of all these roles, was the most consistently effective, musically and dramatically right from the start. His naturally imposing stage presence helped (he was a wonderful Attila on Margit Island in the summer) and he dominated whenever he appeared and sung.
And so to Lucia. Erika Miklosa was a glamourous and pretty sexy Lucia – a lovely diaphanous blue dress in her first scene which very effectively made her stand out from almost all the other female characters and their costumes. The voice was good. It was powerful enough for the climaxes, appropriately flexible (although I do not think this characteristic is necessarily her greatest strength) and very good control, allowing her to spin high and quiet lines with no sense of strain or paleness of tone. Her acting in the mad scene was very effective and quite subtle – there were occasional moments of neurotically distracted movement, sudden twitching irregularities which effectively conveyed the broken mind.
All In all, a pretty fine and enjoyable evening.