Donizetti’s 'Lucia di Lammermoor' in the wrong hands

"Lucia di Lammermoor" by Gaetano Donizetti, a prominent 19th-century Italian composer, is an operatic classic and a defining work of the Italian bel canto (beautiful singing) tradition. It exists to showcase breathtaking high notes, expansive arias, and the rare ability to align vocal color and pitch with emotional depth. These qualities were precisely why I wanted to see a performance by the Ankara State Opera and Ballet (Ankara DOB) in Türkiye’s capital last week. My expectations were driven especially by the role of Lucia, one of the most demanding and distinctive roles in the operatic repertoire.

On the night of Jan. 5, when the curtain rose, the stage, conceived in line with the opera’s Gothic narrative, was visually impressive. Through skillful lighting effects, the set evoked a castle rising from the midst of a restless sea. Lighting designer Ali Gökdemir and set designer Çağda Çıtkaya deserve genuine appreciation. Unfortunately, from that point on, the production ceased to feel like an operatic classic and instead came to resemble a large-scale elementary school pageant.

As the chorus searched the castle for the intruder, half of its members cast puzzled glances upward, as if questioning why the lights had gone out. Beyond this carelessness, the chorus was strikingly disorganized and far from unified.