In the kingdom of the San Francisco Opera, tonight marked the beginning of
the reign of the third Lucia (of the troubled Lammermoors), in the person
of Noelle Richardson.

History buffs will recall that during the current 11 Lucia performances,
both Christine Schaefer and Ruth Ann Swenson abdicated because of illness,
Schaefer permanently, and Tracy Dahl opened the run with terrific
performances.

Swenson came back and reigned gloriously, although I haven't heard her hold
back quite this much, but no matter, she is still the best.

So we come to No. 3, a young *dancer* from Southern California, making her
mark as a soprano in New Zealand and Walnut Creek, in her debut tonight at
SFO.

Richardson is nice.  Nice voice, nice appearance, nice accuracy, nice high
notes.  In a small hall, at a recital, she'd be even nicer.  Not too much
presence though, somewhat lost in what should be musical *drama*.

The drama part was supplied by Tito Beltran, a pint-sized, bold, daring,
exciting Edgardo, and Sorin Coliban as Raimondo the chaplain/tutor --
about whom more later.

Why does everybody abuse Lucia? After her mother dies on her, there is a
brother who slaps her around, the tutor who beats up on her, a lover who
tears the ring off her finger, a husband imposed on her, and in the San
Francisco production, Richard Bonynge, who conducts slowly and loudly
enough to provide the worst abuse in the house.

Somehow, Christopher Robertson's Enrico, with his big, noisy voice that
inevitably trails into flat notes goes well with Bonynge's musical
direction.

But back to the good stuff: Every time Beltran shows up here ("Rigoletto"
and the "Boheme" Broadway-type run), I like him more.  There is excitement
in his voice, even in a Bonynge-boring and Richardson-nice performance,
that wakes people up.

If you have never heard a performance in the War Memorial Opera House from
the top of the balcony, you don't really know the hall.  Visit up there, at
least once, to *hear* voices.  That's where I was during the Sextet and the
brief scene closing Act 2, and Beltran's voice there sounded absolutely
thrilling.  Ditto for Coliban, a Romanian Chaliapin...  if only he could
sing.

Attention, people in the Bass Futures Market: you could make a sensational
investment by engaging this young man, at his current fee (and on his way
out of SFO) for, say, 2002 and beyond.  Coliban has a tremendous voice and
a huge potential, but musically and dramatically, he must have been trained
by a Ceausescu crony.  In the right hands, under the right circumstances,
Coliban may well become *the* bass of the early 21st century.

Janos Gereben/SF
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