Sottile Theatre, Charleston
June 8, 2018

You think Lucia di Lammermoor has a hard time? Try poor old Pia de’ Tolomei. Not only does her hubby confine her in a tower expecting her to starve to death, but in the end an evil henchman slips the thirsty dame a Mickey Finn only for her to gasp her poisoned last in the arms of her suddenly repentant spouse. As a medieval history lesson, it’s real “vessel with the pestle” stuff, but it’s certainly tuneful and a smart rethink or dramatic updating is all it needs to thrive. If Andrea Cigni’s intermittently ham-fisted production doesn’t really give Donizetti his due, thanks to Lidiya Yankovskaya’s fine reading of the score and some standout vocal performances Spoleto Festival’s US premiere of a first rate, second rate bit of bel canto is well worth a look.

Amanda Woodbury and Valdis Jansons in Pia de’ Tolomei. Photo © William Struhs

Donizetti’s tragedia lirica to a libretto by the ever workmanlike Salvadore Cammarano premiered in 1837 at the Teatro Apollo in Venice. It was the composer’s 60th-or-so opera, coming two years after Lucia and six months before Roberto Devereux. Taking its...