Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor Joan Sutherland

• 1 Preludio - Percorrete le spiaggie vicine 04:48
• 2 Tu sei turbato! 02:49
• 3 Cruda, funesta smania 04:16
• 4 La pietade in suo favore 03:32
• 5 Ancor non giunse! 04:26
• 6 Regnava nel silenzio 04:08
• 7 Quando rapito in estasi 04:09
• 8 Egli s'avanza 02:44
• 9 Sulla tomba che rinserra 02:51
• 10 Qui di sposa eterna...Ah! Verrano a te sull'aure 07:01
• 11 Lucia, fra poco a te verrà 03:07
• 12 Appressati, Lucia...Il pallor funesto, orrendo 05:51
• 13 Soffriva nel pianto 03:28
• 14 Che fia 01:25
• 15 Se tradirmi tu potrai 03:15
• 16 Ebben? - Di tua speranza 02:50
• 17 Ah! cedi, cedi 02:25
• 18 Al ben de'tuoi qual vittima 03:46
• 19 Per te d'immenso giubilo 03:32
• 20 Dov'è Lucia? 04:26
• 21 Chi mi frena in tal momento 03:41
• 22 T'allontana sciagurato 05:46
• 23 Orrida è questa notte 02:45
• 24 Qui del padre ancor respira 07:37
• 25 D'immenso giubilo 01:43
• 26 Ah! cessate quel contento 03:34
• 27 Oh! qual funesto avvenimento! 02:28
• 28 Oh, giusto cielo!...Il dolce suono 03:29
• 29 Ohimè! sorge il tremendo fantasma 08:57
• 30 S'avanza Enrico 03:15
• 31 Spargi d'amore pianto 03:50
• 32 Si tragga altrove 02:08
• 33 Tombe degli avi miei 03:57
• 34 Fra poco a me ricovero 03:02
• 35 Oh meschina! 04:30
• 36 Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali 04:58
• Total Runtime 02:20:29

Info for Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor

Literally meaning ‘colouring’, the term refers to particularly high-octane vocal gymnastics at the top of a soprano’s register, designed to challenge the performer to their limits and wow audiences in the process. Dame Joan became famous for her performances of the Mad Scene from this Donizetti opera; it remains perhaps the greatest operatic challenge for any coloratura soprano today.

While the music in Lucia di Lammermoor is both extraordinarily accomplished and structurally coherent, the same cannot be said of the plot. Donizetti wasn’t the first composer to set a farcical, disjointed story to music – and he surely won’t be the last – but this one really stretches things to the limit. The opera follows the misfortunes of two feuding Scottish families, a political mission to France, forgery, a forced marriage, utter madness and suicide.

Aside from the famous Mad Scene in the third act, the other crowning glory of Lucia di Lammermoor is the glorious Sextet, which, when performed well, cannot fail to send shivers down the listener’s spine. Donizetti skilfully ensures all six characters have individual musical lines and distinct phrasing to distinguish them from the other five performers. As a result, within this heavenly blend of sound, there are also six different melodic ideas, all woven together to create something truly magical.


“Though some of the girlish freshness of voice which marked the 1961 recording had disappeared by the 1971 set, Sutherland's detailed understanding was intensified. Power is there as well as delicacy, and the rest of the cast is first-rate.” (The Pinguin Guide)

Joan Sutherland, soprano (Lucia)
Luciano Pavarotti, tenor (Edgardo)
Sherrill Milnes, baritone (Enrico)
Nicolai Ghiaurov, bass (Raimondo)
Ryland Davies, tenor (Arturo)
Huguette Tourangeau, mezzo (Alisa)
Pier Francesco Poli, tenor (Normanno)
Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Richard Bonynge, conductor

Digitally remastered

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Booklet for Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor