Nada Ruzdjak plunges into Lucia's showy madness

THE SONGBIRD: Born in Zagreb, Nada Ruždjak (1934 - 2012) was a leading soprano in Croatia. She studied in Rijeka and made her debut there in 1961. Gilda was her debut role at the Zagreb Opera in 1965, where she became a company member through 1991 with roles including Adele, Queen of the Night, Susanna, Lucia, Olympia, Zerbinetta, Gilda, Oscar, Rosina, and Violetta. She moved into more lyric roles at the Maribor Opera (Butterly, Mimi, Nedda, Marguerite in "Faust", and the Countess in "Figaro"). Her guest performances included Violetta in Berlin and Moscow, and Konstanze in Klagenfurt, Austria. 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 mentally unstable young woman appears in a bloodied gown and sings a long, complex, and haunting "mad scene" mixing delusion and grief that is a musically and dramatically innovative tour-de-force of bel canto vocalism and gripping tragedy. The primary section of the mad scene culminates in a long cadenza with a flute (and occasionally the glass harmonica). But because apparently that wasn't enough warbling for one diva, Donizetti succumbs the era's operatic conventions and gives Lucia even more to sing: a traditional cabaletta "Spargi d'amaro pianto."