Having seen a wonderful performance of Lucia at the Arizona Opera in October, I had high expectations. Consequently I was deeply disappointed.
The tenor, Garrett Sorenson, was a total catastrophy and should never be allowed again on a stage. No voice, poor technique, bad timing and, as we noticed at Opera Talk, incapable to understand what went wrong.
The baritone, Gordon Hawkins, who nowadays sings Wagner, risked a return to Puccini, probably thinking that the Arizona public will be tolerant and not notice that his voice no longer fits the role. He was unconvincing, the orchestra totally silenced him and he also appeared clearly fatigued.
The soprano, Jill Gardner, was unequal. In the first act she was poor, her voice had not been prepared in advance. She sleepwalked through the first part of the second act, but she suddenly found her way starting with her aria (Vissi d'arte) which she performed beautifully and from that moment on she was in the role, emotional, convincing and her voice reached the expected range with ease.
The production was decent, the orchestra did a good job (albeit with a slight glitch in the act III, but that was probably due to the tenor's mistake) and the director looked, during the Opera Talk, immune to self-criticism.
All in all, this was a mediocre production. I can understand that you cannot have Lisette Oropesa everyday, but this was way below the acceptable mark.