Among the great mad scenes available to an operatic soprano, Lucia di Lammermoor is a classic. The parade of blood-stained divas staggering across stages to Donizetti’s eerie, twirling melody includes some of the greatest in history, notably Callas herself. I should also admit a personal interest in the work: the novel that inspired it, The Bride of Lammermoor, is the work of a (very) distant ancestor of mine – Sir Walter Scott.
Unfortunately, despite some excellent singing, Buxton’s production drags and flattens all the time, prinicipally due to static acting and lengthy scene changes.