Catherine Malfitano - Donizetti: LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, Regnava nel silenzio & Quando rapito, 1975

THE SONGBIRD: Born in New York City in 1948, Catherine Malfitano is the daughter of a ballet dancer mother and a violinist father. She attended the High School of Music and Art and the Manhattan School of Music, graduating in 1971. Malfitano made her professional debut in 1972 as Nannetta at the Central City Opera. In 1974 she made her debut with New York City Opera as Mimi. Important debuts followed in San Francisco (1974), The Holland Festival (1974), Chicago (1975), and London (1976). Her Met debut was as Gretel in 1979, followed by 220 performances in 19 roles from Juliette and Manon to Lulu and Emilia Marty. Malfitano's international career included operatic engagements in Milan, Paris, Brussels, Geneva, Florence, Barcelona, Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Hamburg, Amsterdam, and Salzburg. In 2005, Malfitano started a second career as an opera director, and is a now member of the voice faculty at Manhattan School of Music. This performance was captured from a full production in Augusta, Georgia in September 1975. THE MUSIC: Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" has become one of the quintessential operas for a coloratura soprano -- it's one of the most widely produced bel canto operas in the world and the title character is a benchmark role for this voice type. Donizetti composed it in 1835, which was a peak of his artistic and popular success -- Rossini had recently retired, Bellini had just died, and Verdi had not yet had his first premiere ("Oberto" in 1837). Based on Walter Scott's novel, the opera premiered in Naples. The plot in a nutshell: after being tricked into marrying a man she doesn't love, and lied to that her true love has betrayed her, Lucia loses her mind and murders the groom on her wedding night. The mad scene near the end of the opera is justifiably a famous bel canto tour de force, but Lucia's entrance aria and cabaletta is also a haunting showpiece, setting up the dark, gothic mood of the opera and Lucia's borderline bipolar personality, from brooding visions of ghosts ("Regnava nel silenzio") to ecstatic declarations of love ("Quando rapito in estasi").