Search - Donizetti - Lucia di Lammermoor / Cillario, Moffo, Kozma on DVD

Saved by La Moffo

Mart Sander | www.martsander.com | 02/08/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"We'll have to keep in mind that this is probably a made-for-TV effort that hasn't taken too much trouble or money to produce. It's very static and stagey (even by operatic standards), it's mostly badly mimed and badly acted. Where you'd expect mood lighting, there's constant full blaze, and where you'd expect people to react to the misery of Lucy, they just either turn away or burst into poorly coreographed swordfight. The direction is very, very poor. The picture and sound quality is mediocre, mostly because I believe it to have been shot on 16mm. But there was no sound or picture distortion as one viewer was complaining. It was just what I expected. Moffo is so very beautiful, but her lips barely move as she is supposedly singing and she simply hasn't much to do even though you can see that she is a sensitive actress. I also enjoyed the rest of the cast and was wondering that the blond tenor isn't better known nowadays. Not a bad film, but so much more could have been done with this marvellous singer, great locations and gorgeous music. Shame, director and producer!"

The Greatest Lucia Ever

Colston | Las Vegas | 12/05/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Anna Moffo is Lucia!! By comparison, the rest of the cast stunk. In spite of the handicap, this is a 5-star performance. I was privileged to see Anna Moffo perform live in the Chicago Opera House as Lucia in 1957. That was immediately after her television triumph in Italy as Madama Butterfly (1956, her Fulbright Scholarship years). Immediately after her Mad Scene, there was another mad scene. This time it was the audience who went mad - an unheard-of 10 minutes of screaming ovation. That was THE most memorable opera experience in my lifetime. I saw the great Joan Sutherland in the same role, same year, and same opera house. She was superb. Stupenda or not, she was not in Moffo's league."