Mariinsky Concert Hall, St Petersburg, 12-16 September 2010.
Natalie Dessay (Lucia), Piotr Beczala (Edgardo), Vladislav Sulimsky (Enrico), Dmitry Voropaev (Arturo), Ilya Bannik (Raimondo), Zhanna Dombrovskaya (Alisa) & Sergei Skorokhodov (Normanno) Mariinsky Orchestra & Chorus, Valery Gergiev
The Mariinsky label’s opera recordings have garnered acclaim and awards from around the world, most recently for Valery Gergiev’s recording of Parsifal released in 2010. For the label’s fifth opera, Gergiev conducts Donizetti’s masterpiece with a magnificent cast led by Natalie Dessay. Natalie Dessay is one of the world’s most sought-after sopranos and an admired interpreter of lyric heroines. She is particularly renowned for her interpretation of the role of Lucia, which she has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House and the Mariinsky Theatre. Future engagements include Verdi’s La Traviata with the LSO at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in July and at the Vienna State Opera in October.
“Here’s a Valery Gergiev recording in which, for once, the febrile maestro isn’t centre stage. This is all about Natalie Dessay’s performance as poor deluded Lucy. And if you thrill to the French soprano’s hypercharged, histrionic and occasionally wayward delivery of Donizetti’s mad scene, you will forgive the ebullient but sometimes rough-edged playing of the Mariinsky Orchestra...Top singing from Vladislav Sulimsky as Enrico.” The Times
“there is something distinctively Russian about this Lammermoor. All those Italian melodies flow beautifully...But there is a sense of drive and purpose about this performance that seems, to me at least, distinctively Slavic...Dessay structures [the Mad Scene] well, always saving something in reserve for the build-ups and outbursts. Some excellent glass harmonica playing from Sascha Reckert...An intense but satisfying experience.” Classical Review
Gramophone disc of the month
