Rating: 
Summary: No, I rather listen to her recordings
Review: I'm annoyed and angered by this ignorance that is being sold as the "truth". Joan Sutherland was already singing for years in 1959 and Callas didn't "quit" because of her. Callas sang her last performance in 1965 but never officially retired. (There were plans for Norma, Medea etc.) And the 1971 Lucia is NOT the bestselling Lucia of all time. But even if it were: Charlotte Church's "Opera-Recitals" outsell Sutherland (NOT Callas!) by far, so Church is "better" than Sutherland? Get real! Callas doesn't crack on 25% of the E-flats, there are only two in Lucia di Lammermoor and she always sang them well. And it's called verismo, such ignorance is LAUGHABLE. And guess what, in "verismo" you NEED a great technique as well. Ask Caballe, de los Angeles, Tebaldi ETC. Etc. This DVD was recorded too late and shows us a mere shadow of a once great Lucia. Stick to the recordings.
Rating: 
Summary: Lucky Lucy
Review: I've not been one of Joan Sutherland's greatest fans, though I do enjoy the voice very much. Often, she sounds dramatically uninvolved and, as my friend remarks, always sounds like she was about to sneeze.
Ok, enough of that. She is awesome here. Yes, she may not be able to measure up to her recordings of the work, but she has found a new sense of drama, a fire within the music. I much prefer Sills in this role, who really tore up the stage (or microphone, on her cd). However, Sutherland does have quite a presence and I am utterly astonished when I hear her pluck an effortless high D at the end of the sextet. Oh my god! What I would give to have a high note like that AT ANY AGE!!!!!!!
Here she is in her mid to late fifties doing these things.
She's quite good, as is Plishka and Elvira. I've never been a huge fan of Alfredo Kraus but, with microphone distancing, he doesn't bother me nearly as much as in his studio recordings. Overall, I think it's a wonderful time at the opera. Now, for an even more incredible account, pick up Beverly Sills' version that was just released. WOW!
Rating:
Summary: Great performance
Review: If Sutherland is late in her career in this performance, there is still no one today who sings it likes this even early in their career: power, beauty and fullness of tone, effortless coloratura. Krauss gives another one of his very fine classy perfomances. Age here does give a dryness to the timber. But he had an extraordinary career. Pablo Elvira I'm afraid was very underappreciated and this is lamentable. His performance here is rich and full in tone, powerful, convincing, untterly sincere, a worlthy partner to Sutherland's Lucia. The Met orchestra is superb as always. A must have! A wonderful evening at the theater!
Rating:
Summary: A Stunning and Spellbinding Performance!
Review: In 1961, when The Met still made road tours, a friend and I stood to hear a young Joan Sutherland sing Lucia, so it was with high hopes that this DVD went into the player. In 1982, at the height of her talent, Dame Joan did not disappoint. Teamed with a cast that includued the sumptuous voice of Pablo Elvira as Enrico, and the elegant, poised tenor of the late Alfredo Krause as Edgardo, this Lucia overwhelms the viewer, both visually and acoustically. The conductor is Dame Joan's husband and coach, Richard Bonynge, arguably the finest conductor of bel canto opera. But the performance all comes down to Sutherland, and, for those who were not fortunate to have heard her before her retirement, this disc is overwhelming evidence of why she was referred to as "La Stupenda"! Vocally spectacular, with a range, fluidity and temperment that makes this as close to a perfect performance as one is likely to see, Dame Joan literally brings the house down at the end of the "mad scene". Pioneer, once more, has demonstrated how well opera and DVD technology work together. Don't miss this disc!!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Prima donna
Review: Joan Sutherland as Lucia. I guess the only reason I can't give it a five star is because I have tapes of Sutherland in the 1960-1970 that puts the voice in a totally different category. Yes, she was still great here, 1983. But her performances in the complete bell telephone hour is so superior to the one here that you would not recognize it. But as huge fans of the Dame, of course we have to have everything that she ever did. But for the new opera buff who wants to see why Sutherland is widely regarded as the greatest coloratura of all time, I suggest he look elsewhere, such as the bell telephone hour set, or the age of bel canto set.
Rating: 
Summary: Alfredo Kraus saves the performance
Review: Lucia di Lammermoor is a bel canto masterpiece that requires both vocal agility and a good sense of dramatic skill. By the time this DVD was recorded, Dame Joan no longer had the beautiful high notes she once possessed. Her voice is now droopy, her Italian slurred by some strange force of nature. In other words, her Lucia is a maddening disaster. Callas and Sills and Moffo at least brought some justice to the role, and throughout their career, the good Lucias were preserved on record. Sutherland was a vocally good Lucia, but she lacked drama, an essential component to the bel canto school of singing. Thank goodness Alfredo Kraus was there to save the performance.
And for the demented Callas basher, don't bring your [...] around here. Callas' genius does not deserve to be insulted by the despondent pool of dumbness [...] that you come from. She can sing Lucia around dame Joan and you know it.
Rating:
Summary: Sutherland owns the role of Lucia, you Callas maniac
Review: Maria Callas had no choice but to quit when Joan Sutherland came into the opera scene in 1959 and after truimphant Lucias in Convent Garden, French Opera Comique, La Scala, and the Met. She was declared by Opera news as the greatest Lucia and the best coloratura soprano in the world.
As Maria Callas's voice decline, Sutherland's career rocketed.
Remember, Callas' most curtain call she got in La Scala was only 16. Sutherland receive the record for both the Met and La Scala with 30 curtain calls after her Lucia.
Also, if Callas' Lucias are so good. Why is it that when I did a paper on the opera Lucia. I researched that the Sutherland's 1971 Lucia outsells all other Lucias COMBINED! It is not selling as well as it used to now because everyone already have it.
Finally, Callas cracks on the E flat about 25% of the time she sings the role on stage. Sutherland never cracks on the E flats.
Sorry, Callas in nothing next to Sutherland as Lucia. Sills is closer. But Callas should stick to verisimo, that way she can scream and hurt people's ears as much as she wants.
Rating: 
Summary: disappointed....
Review: My favorite Lucia of all time is Sutherland's first recording of the opera. There, she was in glorious voice and sang so beautifully. I'm always amazed. Here in this performance her voice is thick and mushy. It's really inferior if you contrast the two. And as always, her acting is below par (which is unacceptable, once you've seen fiery performances by Callas in the role). I'm sorry, I'm just plain disappointed. By the way, is there an earlier performance by sutherland as lucia?
Rating:
Summary: Why is this work in the repertoire?
Review: Note: this review is of the VHS version, and only covers content. Since I have begun watching opera on VHS and DVD, this is one of the more disappointing works I have seen, along with Verdi's Macbeth, and (to a lesser extent) Don Giovanni. Maybe a different production would help. The first Fidelio I saw was a ... (a Covent Garden production), but the recent televised Met production was totally different. Most operas take at least a full act to "draw you in," but begin to give you a payoff somewhere around the end of act 2 or beginning act 3. Lucia, at least in this production, never pays off. Lucia's "Mad Scene" was one of the greatest "letdowns" I have experienced. This was the high point...? As for Sutherland, her voice might have been great, but watching her is watching a female version of the "elephant man." I try to focus on the music, but her face (head?) keeps getting in the way. If this is a good production of Lucia, I'd hate to see a poor one. There are better operas to be introducted to opera with.
Rating:
Summary: Sutherland.... ah Sutherland!
Review: One of the most electrifying performances of Lucia I have ever witnessed. I saw it live and was absolutely enthralled by the entire performance. I had to have the DVD in my collection. Sutherland's return to the Met in this performance was remarkable and thrilling. Her mad scene was without equal in all the opera world. It brought tears to many in the unusually enthusiastic audience that brought her back for five curtain calls. Bel Canto will never be the same without Sutherland. The staging, orchestration and the cast were all superior.
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