[Met Performance] CID:164840



Lucia di Lammermoor
Metropolitan Opera House, Mon, February 8, 1954

Debut : Dolores Wilson




Lucia di Lammermoor (264)
Gaetano Donizetti | Salvadore Cammarano
Lucia
Dolores Wilson [Debut]

Edgardo
Jan Peerce

Enrico
Renato Capecchi

Raimondo
Norman Scott

Normanno
James McCracken

Alisa
Thelma Votipka

Arturo
Thomas Hayward

Dance
Gisella Weidner

Dance
Karl Klauser


Conductor
Fausto Cleva







Review 1:

Review of R. A. E. in the March 1954 issue of Musical America

The coloratura-soprano wing of the Metropolitan was considerably strengthened with the acquisition of Dolores Wilson, who made her debut with the company as Lucia in this performance. A very pretty 25-year old Philadelphian, Miss Wilson has spent six years in opera in Europe and South America (at one time under the name Dolores Vilsoni), and she is the Lucia in the Urania recording made in Italy of Donizetti's opera.

Her extensive background and training were immediately obvious in the general surety and conviction of her debut performance. She sang accurately, on pitch, flexibly, and with an attractive tone that grew increasingly brilliant as the voice went up. The strength of her upper register assumed particular importance in the famous sextet by giving proper weight to the soprano line in the climactic phrases - something of a rarity at the Metropolitan. Miss Wilson also phrased in musicianly fashion, and in combination with her well-thought-out, appealing characterization she injected much pathos into the music of the unfortunate heroine. Tones in the middle register of Miss Wilson's voice lacked the focus to make them fully effective, but this may have been occasioned by debut nerves. If more verve and passion would have made her Lucia even more compelling than it was, the soprano was such a well-grounded artist that her usefulness in the 39th Street opera house is obvious.

Jan Peerce offered a stimulating Edgardo, sung and acted with the tenor's never- failing artistry but with more urgency and excitement than is his wont. In his first appearance of the season, Renato Capecchi created a three-dimensional character out of Enrico, and sang with exceptional intelligence if with no great vocal beauty. Norman Scott as Raimondo; Thelma Votipka, as Alisa; and Thomas Hayward as Arturo, contributed effectively to the performance, and James McCracken's really stunning tenor voice made the part of Normanno stand out in the first scene. Fausto Cleva conducted.



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