Lucia di Lammermoor (1971)

User Rating:

9.0/10   

Director:

Mario Lanfranchi

Writers:

Salvatore Cammarano (adaptation)
Sir Walter Scott (novel)

Genre:

Drama | Musical

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel | Character Name In Title

Cast

Anna Moffo	...	Lucia
Lajos Kozma	...	Edgardo Ravenswood
Paolo Washington	...	Raimondo
Giulio Fioravanti	...	Enrico
Pietro di Vietri	...	Arturo
Glauco Scarlini	...	Normanno
Anna Maria Segatori	...	Alisa
Carla Mancini	...	Ancella

Runtime:

Italy:103 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Odescalchi Castle, Bracciano, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

B.L. Productions

Curiosity-piece available on DVD

There actually was a DVD made from this Italian film. Unfortunately the original production was rather crude, and the quality of both the picture, and particularly the mono(?) sound, is fairly poor; plus on top of that the DVD-transfer is overly-compressed for no good reason. The English sub-titles are large, white, and grainy-looking.

I know nothing about how this originally got made, but I wonder if it was somehow related to the Italian TV show with which Moffo was associated at the time. Its strictly for die-hard fans of this particular opera or singer. The attractive Moffo was around 37 at the time, and photographs very well. All the filming was done in and around an actual old castle, which lends atmosphere; however at the same time there are very few "supernumeraries" or choruses around, giving the whole production a remarkably under-populated feeling. For example in the "mad scene" she starts out coming down a hallway into a large room with only a few guys standing around dressed-up as guards; then she moves outside to where she runs around in a graveyard, and finally expires on a lawn near a cliff.

Moffo's singing seemed somewhat more mezzo-like to me, rather than that of a coloratura soprano. She quite noticeably bypasses the highest notes of the arias made famous by Callas, Sutherland, et al. A few times she even hits them a full octave lower.

While I was watching this, I was wishing that Zeffirelli had filmed a "Lucia" with Teresa Stratas; it would have been fun to see a sumptuous production with her ripping into this role for the camera.