# Lucie vs Lucia



## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Just a quick question as I've never seen a Lucie. I noticed that on Natalie Dessay's "Miracle of the Voice" cd that the Lucie mad scene arias are pitched at least a semitone higher than I've ever heard the Lucia mad scene. Is that standard for Lucie? It sounds odd and 'wrong' to my ear, but maybe that's just my not being used to it.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

It's just because Natalie doesn't know what she's doing.
Anna sings it right.

Now, seriously, I don't know. Maybe Herkku does, he's got a Lucie.
I do know that Donizetti left a good chunk of the mad scene open to interpretation, and the coloraturas that the sopranos have added to it are not really there in the score. It's just that they became traditional so one soprano copies what the previous one did. Natalie actually in the Lucia mad scene with her that I've seen, definitely doesn't follow the same script. Still, this wouldn't mean a change in pitch, and I've never seen her do a Lucie.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Just remembered that the YT video of Lucie I posted a week or so back was also tuned higher than Lucia, so I'm guessing it's at least a convention of Lucie, if not actually written as such.

And good point about the ornamentals, there's one that Natalie does towards the end of Spargi d'amaro that is just beautiful and is note for note identical to that of Callas, and I've not heard anyone else do it quite the same way.

Also, while looking up various Spargi's, found this note in a description:
_I have included Dessay's Lucie (the French revision) even though it is the only video sung in the original key and therefore Dessay forgoes the final high note (I think it would be an F in this case.)_

Interesting! So if this is to be believed, the higher tuning (which, assuming that the above is correct and the last note would be an F instead of Eb, would make it a whole tone higher) is the correct one? Still like the lower tuned version much more.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

rgz said:


> Also, while looking up various Spargi's, found this note in a description:
> _I have included Dessay's Lucie (the French revision) even though it is the only video sung in the original key and therefore Dessay forgoes the final high note (I think it would be an F in this case.)_
> 
> Interesting! So if this is to be believed, the higher tuning (which, assuming that the above is correct and the last note would be an F instead of Eb, would make it a whole tone higher) is the correct one? Still like the lower tuned version much more.


Can you post this version?


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Sure, just realized I posted it (complete with "wardrobe malfunction") here a couple weeks back 





Fair warning: NSFW content


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## Der Fliegende Amerikaner (Feb 26, 2011)

Almaviva said:


> Anna sings it right.


Which Anna? If you are referring to Anna Netrebko, I would disagree. I saw her in Lucia at the Met, February 2009. Clearly, Lucia was not the appropriate role for her.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Der Fliegende Amerikaner said:


> Which Anna?


_Anna_ is Anna Netrebko or who Talk Classical have named *Anna Netrebko - La Bellissima* 



Der Fliegende Amerikaner said:


> If you are referring to Anna Netrebko, I would disagree. I saw her in Lucia at the Met, February 2009. Clearly, Lucia was not the appropriate role for her.


Welcome to the forum and especially to an opera fan.

There are some who may not agree with you but do check out our project for the Top 100 recommended DVDs - as Almaviva says it's a work in progress and we'd love you to join in. :tiphat:


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Der Fliegende Amerikaner said:


> Which Anna? If you are referring to Anna Netrebko, I would disagree. I saw her in Lucia at the Met, February 2009. Clearly, Lucia was not the appropriate role for her.


Oh, don't mind me, it's a running joke. I'm a big fan of Anna Netrebko's, and rgz is a big fan of Natalie Dessay's, so we engage in some banter. Sure, it's not an ideal role for Anna, I agree.

Welcome to the forum!


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## Der Fliegende Amerikaner (Feb 26, 2011)

Thanks Sospiro and Almavia for the welcome. This forum is so much friendly than my favorite forum, Flyertalk.com (my pseudonym is francophile on that site). Yes, I'm an opera fan. I'm listening to Renee Fleming in Armida live from the Met right now!

rgz, here's a full recording with Natalie Dessay and Roberto Alagna:

http://www.emiclassics.co.uk/release.php?id=94635244922

Regarding the February 2009 performance of Lucia I saw at the Met with Anna Netrebko, my assessment of her performance may be unfair. After all, she just can back from maternity leave and had an extended break from live performance. We all know so she can sing Donizetti. She was splendid in Don Pasquale this past winter:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/arts/music/02don.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=pasquale&st=cse
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010...15/don-pasquale.html?scp=2&sq=pasquale&st=cse


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Der Fliegende Amerikaner said:


> rgz, here's a full recording with Natalie Dessay and Roberto Alagna:
> 
> http://www.emiclassics.co.uk/release.php?id=94635244922


Thanks for the link, and welcome from me too.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Der Fliegende Amerikaner said:


> rgz, here's a full recording with Natalie Dessay and Roberto Alagna:
> 
> http://www.emiclassics.co.uk/release.php?id=94635244922


Thanks for the link. I had actually hit up that site recently as, following an email to the Lyric Opera in Chicago inquiring whether their 2004 Lucia with Ms. Dessay would ever be released on dvd, they pointed me to a site with their Lucia available on cd and to the site you link for her Lucie. I'll probably end up picking one or both up, but it's discouraging to me that there may never be a dvd of Natalie as Lucia; as much as I simply adore her, I'll be the first to say that from a purely vocally standpoint, hers is no all time wonder of the world, even in her prime. But she captivates on stage.

e: for anyone who might be interested, her 2004 Lyric Opera 'Lucia' is available on cd here: http://premiereopera.com/search.aspx?find=Dessay&log=false&category=5


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