Lucia di Lammermoor - The Ultimate Operatic Mad Scene | Documentary
Рет қаралды 6,979
10 ай бұрынLucia di Lammermoor - the Ultimate Operatic Mad Scene - Documentary
Lucia di Lammermoor is one of the best loved of Gaetano Donizetti’s many operas. It is a tragic tale of a young woman driven to madness and murder by the scheming of her wicked brother and it is famous for one of the most intense and dramatic mad scenes in the whole operatic canon.
In this video I explore the historical background of madness in opera from my perspective as a psychiatrist, focusing on the ever-popular Lucia di Lammermoor.
I examine the opera itself, the novel by Sir Walter Scott from which it is drawn and the real-life events in seventeenth century Scotland that formed the basis for Scott’s book.
I also try to make sense of the opera’s famous mad scene to work out what could have happened to the ill-fated Lucia.
Finding Out More:
The best way to find out more is to watch the opera itself. Several productions are available on KZfaq, but for better quality I have added a Blu Ray of the excellent Metropolitan Opera version onto my Amazon store page if you are interested: www.amazon.com/shop/professor...
Academic References:
Erfurth, A., and Hoff, P. (2000). Mad scenes in early 19th‐century opera. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 102(4), 310-313.
Jones, M. (1990). Lucia di Lammermoor. Psychiatric Bulletin, 14(9), 556-557.
Lorusso, L., Franchini, A. F., and Porro, A. (2015). Opera and neuroscience. Progress in brain research, 216, 389-409.
Peschel, E., and Peschel, R. (1992). Donizetti and the music of mental derangement: Anna Bolena, Lucia di Lammermoor, and the composer's neurobiological illness. The Yale journal of biology and medicine, 65(3), 189.
Copyright Disclaimer:
The primary purpose of this video is educational. I have tried to use material in the public domain or with Creative Commons Non-attribution licences wherever possible. Where attribution is required, I have listed this below. I believe that any copyright material used falls under the remit of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this, I will not hesitate to immediately remove that content. It is not my intention to infringe on content ownership in any way. If you happen to find your art or images in the video, please let me know and I will be glad to credit you.
Images:
Wikimedia Commons
Wellcome Collection
Music:
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 'Italian' - Andante con moto - Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Musopen CC1.0
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor: Spargi d'amaro pianto Toti Dal Monte, Rosario Bourdon (1926)
Donizetti - Double Concerto for violin and cello. Giovanni Sollima , Daniele Orlando. I Solisti Aquilani. CC Attribution.
Donizetti: Sonata in G-minor, Franziska Kannewischer-Fisch, flute, Praxedis Hug-Rütti, harp. CC Attribution.
Donizetti: Andante Sostenuto. Robin des Hautbois Tropper, Piano: David Chin CC Attribution
Donizetti: String quartet: Violins: R. Plantevin and M. Mercanton, Viola: A. Vauquet, Cello: F. Courvoisier. CC Attribution
Claudio Monteverdi: Toccata from L'Orfeo. Bangkok Baroque Ensemble. Trisdee na Patalung, harpsichord and direction. CC3.0 via Wikimedia
Paul Lawrence: Scottish Celtic: Traditional Scottish musicians, Fort William. CC3.0
Johann Sebastian Bach - Partita For Solo Flute, a minor (BWV 1013). Scott Goff, flute CC2.0
Video produced by Graeme Yorston and Tom Yorston.
@hnybee113 10 ай бұрын
As a opera singer for over 25 years. LUCIAS mad scene for any dramatic lyric soprano with strong coloratura is the ultimate challenging Aria. Bring the madness of this scene. Especially covered in blood is truly horrific yet one of the most compelling scenes in opera. Thank you so much for reminding me how much I love this opera as well as singing it.
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
Thank you.
@hulagirlhere 10 ай бұрын
The width and depth of your knowledge and interests are amazing! I have binge watched every offering on your channel in the past 2 weeks or so and am thrilled with every new story. The subject matter is phenomenal and your clinical assessments are brilliant. Thank you sir for all your work!
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
Awesome, thank you!
@a.jlondon9039 10 ай бұрын
Thank you for all of your work and expertise in presenting these brilliant videos.
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
Thank you, glad you are enjoying them.
@LuciaRPerez 10 ай бұрын
Being an opera and Callas fan I loved this take on Lucia di Lamermoor. I ADORE "La sonnambula", specially Callas approach with Visconti's regie. Amina's story has many parts similar to the ballet "Giselle"
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
La somnambula would be an interesting one to do a video on.
@fipitt4100 10 ай бұрын
another winner, thanks mate
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
Thank you.
@davidpyott3710 8 ай бұрын
Brilliant again thanks
@professorgraemeyorston 8 ай бұрын
Thank you.
@TokyoDrftg 10 ай бұрын
I hope you’ll do a video about religious hallucinations (visions). I’m sure you’d cover it better than most. I appreciate your videos as a history major - you cover aspects the history books often skip.
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
Thank you, I am planning a longer video on Joan of Arc
@kAe8560 2 ай бұрын
Marguerite comes to mind. Her descent into madness as staged by the LA Opera chills me to this day. She was before a gigantic crucifix and as her aria progressed the cross slowly shifted sideways, almost imperceptibly at first, ending completely upside down, mirroring her broken mind. It was the most visceral experience I've ever had at an opera.
@denisedobie6504 9 ай бұрын
Love this one.
@terrypitt-brooke8367 8 ай бұрын
Excellent--again!
@professorgraemeyorston 8 ай бұрын
Thank you.
@CSchaeken 10 ай бұрын
Thank you for another very interesting documentary!
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
@artdanks4846 10 ай бұрын
Great video, and very informative! Lucia has been one of my favorite operas for over 50 years. And of course, it is the greatest of all Mad Scenes. But, I must disagree with you when you say that Lily Pons was "one of the few who could reach the high notes, as written by the composer". The high notes that are normally performed (especially in the Mad Scene) were actually not written by Donizetti, but had become customary for sopranos to interpolate their own cadenzas to display their range and agility. However, where Lily Pons differed from others, is that she sang the Mad Scene in its original key of F, instead of the customary E flat. Donizetti himself agreed to lower the key, to accomodate his original Lucia, Fanny Persiani. Lily Pons restored the original key, and included the customary interpolated high endings, which then put it to High F, instead of E-flat. Monserat Caballe also sang it in F, however did not sing the interpolations, as she was not a coloratura. To my own mind, the three best Lucias are still Callas, Sutherland, and Sills. Thank you for this video! 😁👍
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
Thank you. That's the thing about opera, everybody has their own favourites.
@user-il5oq5df6l 2 ай бұрын
Nadine Sierra has recently established herself as an outstanding interpreter of the role of Lucia.
@artdanks4846 2 ай бұрын
@user-il5oq5df6l She is definitely very good in the role. I also like Lisette Oporesa.
@natalijaargenta959 23 күн бұрын
Natalie Dessay in The Met Lucia di lammermoor was the ultimate Il dolce suono aria. She was so breathtaking in that role and she totally loses herself; rolling downstairs, hanging on to her brother as he tries to walk. She was so cool about it, you felt she could sing the whole 18 minutes again. She always did the high notes to perfection and loved the glass harmonica accompanying the madness aria, which you don't always have in many productions. That haunting cadenza stays with you as the glass hard sounds like it comes from an otherworldly place.......oh, and Joseph Calleja was so amazing as Edgardo.
@professorgraemeyorston 22 күн бұрын
I would have loved to have seen it.
@georgina3358 10 ай бұрын
Excellent presentation, thank you. I didn't know anything about this opera so found your interpretation very interesting
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it! It's well worth watching.
@sifridbassoon 10 ай бұрын
maybe it's because I've never seen Lucia staged, but truthfully, that mad scene is just weird. Or maybe it's just because once you've heard Violetta or Cio-Cio-San, it's hard to unhear it.
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
Bel canto is very different to Verdi and Puccini and for a long time I wasn't that keen - it is just different .
@carolr4871 10 ай бұрын
Great presentation. I'm an opera fan, too, but I've never seen this particular one.
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
It's well worth watching - there are some good versions on KZfaq.
@joyaepace 10 ай бұрын
Lucia’s life totally crashed and she had nothing to live for at that moment. In a state of severe stress her brain gave up and it all became a chaos of grief, anger, despair and memories shutting her mind and causing her to act erratically. I imagine one can kill in a state like that. I don’t know what a real life Lucia would have experienced after a moment of such emotional intensity and can you ever recover from that? Perhaps an extreme intensity of stress can shut down the organs and cause death in some cases?
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
In romantic fiction yes, bit not really in real life.
@SKOMonster 10 ай бұрын
@professorgraemeyorston I wouldn't have put it quite as poetic as the other user, but if I go along with the romantic themes in movies and literature, such as the 2006 movie The Page Turner, I was always imagining this sort of collapse as either a stroke or a heartattack due to overwhelming psychological stress. Being capable of occasional strong emotional outburst, it doesn't seem unimaginable to me (although not really likely), but it is true I am quite a bit older than the young heroine, and so was the female character in that movie. As far fetched as the operatic plots are, wouldn't such thing be possible at all, in the ongoing stressful situation and if there was some preexisting cardiovascular condition due to whatever disease she might have contracted in unhygienic 19th century?
@AdrienneReneau-ky4sc Ай бұрын
SAW PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT A MOVIE THEATER GREAT SCENERY CANNOT RECAL THE MOVIE HAD A GREAT SONG
@jimbuxton2187 3 ай бұрын
I really think the mad scene from hamlet puts all mad scenes to shame...its awesomely crazy....there's Indian themes, high cadenza's, multiple sections and a screamingly crazy ending.... it's Mad at the craziest level!
@monkeygraborange 10 ай бұрын
There is only La Stupenda. Her Lucia is the definitive version.
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
I think there are many superb versions - each different with their own merits.
@chrish2277 10 ай бұрын
I agree but I'm Australian.. we have to.
@josephhapp9 10 ай бұрын
@@chrish2277I’m Australian too,,,,agree.
@jksjksjks3339 15 күн бұрын
Wonderful video and very insightful video series! Could you explore the madness phenomenon of St John of the Cross in his “Dark Night of the Soul”, or Stanislav Grof’s work: “Spiritual Emergency” or Kundalini Psychosis?
@nanettetredoux7613 10 ай бұрын
New subscriber here. Please consider doing a video on Massenet's Werther, from a mental health perspective.
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
Welcome aboard, Werther would be a great topic, but KZfaq doesn't like videos about suicide.
@AdrienneReneau-ky4sc Ай бұрын
ROMANTIC YES EMOTION SOME PEOPLE ARE VERY EMOTIONAL THOSE SOB SCENES THE POOR ORPHAN CHILD
@annalisette5897 10 ай бұрын
A number of the dramatic stories of grand opera have to do with females completely dominated by powerful males and for some, the mad scene may be their only way to gain a level of power in weakness. There is a mad scene in Anna Bolena shortly before she is to be executed. Roughly translated, the aria means, there is enough blame to go around. (Coppia iniqua estrema vendetta.) There is no mad scene as such in LaTraviata, but Violetta wildly rejoices before dying in part from the griefs that have been put upon her by the male dominated society. I am not a feminist as such. I just see a pattern. I am surprised La Sonnambula has a happy ending. The basic story has all the elements to end as a great tragedy, complete with a mad scene.
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
There is a pattern, but is not that because women simply didn't have much power in the nineteenth century?
@madamepampadour 10 ай бұрын
@@professorgraemeyorston I think it is @annalisette5897 point: madness is the power of the powerless, I think in the case of Lucia maybe her death does not come from her madness episode per se but from a broken heart. Takosubo Cardiomyopathy, if we have to attribute death medically to fictional characters. Death from broken hearts is also a topic in Romanticism. Donizetti gave you the complete package. Long, challenging, demanding to play to the extent of exhaustion: such endings represent female sudden death under extreme suffering and stress both in Lucia de Lammermoor in her title role and Isolde in Tristan und Isolde. Although Isolde is not mad per se, there is a topic of mad love that is worth being sought besides (even when this comes from a love potion in this case). Both love couples in Lucia and Tristan find their resolve in death. I love your content and love opera as well!!! I especially admire your analysis on Marilyn Monroe, because you gave her back her agency and resilience in a background of views that strangely only see her as a mere victim of circumstances and of her own traumas. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your dedicated work!!!
@whiskeymonk4085 10 ай бұрын
They are irrational by nature dude. No need to read anything into it just accept it.
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
Thank you.
@battalla1 10 ай бұрын
Have you had an episode on Louis Wain yet?
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
Yes I have a video on Louis Wain.
@AdrienneReneau-ky4sc Ай бұрын
TY ITALIAN OPERA
@southernelle 8 ай бұрын
Maybe she took poison and let herself be free in her last few hours.
@professorgraemeyorston 8 ай бұрын
Good one, I hadn't thought of that!
@toddh377 10 ай бұрын
Perhaps a heart disorder gone fatal from extreme stress?
@shereesmazik5030 10 ай бұрын
I agree , maybe a manic episode and physical exhaustion causing a heart attack in a weak heart . This almost happened in my professional career . The patient was also off their lithium , so.
@whiskeymonk4085 10 ай бұрын
Perhaps she was just being a typical woman.
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
Yes, the exhaustion of mania with something else could do it.
@LuciaRPerez 10 ай бұрын
I was suggesting "Gisselle" and her operatic sister "La Sonnambula" . Bellini's héroe is the mad girl with a happy ending while Gisselle' heart literally "breaks" after the mad scene making possible the amazing act where she becomes a spirit among the Willis
@LuciaRPerez 10 ай бұрын
In the case of "Gisselle" I've always felt the second act is in fact some sort of dream of Albrecht.....he feels guilty about what happened to the peasant girl and has this sort of vision in the woods where she forgives him .
@Shahrdad 17 күн бұрын
Those highest notes were not written but interpolated.
@AdrienneReneau-ky4sc Ай бұрын
IVANHOE I RECALL WENT OUT OF FAVOR
@AdrienneReneau-ky4sc Ай бұрын
TY OPERA KZfaq WOULD BE BEST I LIKE MAGIC FLUTE
@hnybee113 10 ай бұрын
Also Joan Sutherland is the best Lucia ever!!
@professorgraemeyorston 10 ай бұрын
I have to confess I have never been huge fans of either Joan Sutherland or Maria Callas - I prefer a purer sound - but I know millions will disagree!
@petelovesbevsills 10 ай бұрын
@@professorgraemeyorston you can chalk me up in your corner when it comes to the latter of the two.
@AdrienneReneau-ky4sc Ай бұрын
ITALY 🇮🇹 TY THOSE ITALIANS I MET 2 ONLINE NICE ONE TOLD ME ABOUT THE POPE I THINK HE GOT INTO A CAR ACCIDENT THE OTHER ITALIAN WAS A TOUR GUIDE AT SOME MOUNTAIN WITH GERMAN AND USA CLIENTS HE WAS A PHYSICALLY FIT HE SHOWED ME PHOTO WHEN I ASKED ABOUT GF HE HAD SEVERAL
Professor Graeme Yorston
Рет қаралды 1,3 МЛН
Professor Graeme Yorston
Рет қаралды 510 М.