Nina Dominko delivers Lucia's madness in slo-mo

THE SONGBIRD: Nina Dominko studied singing at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana and Music Pedagogy in Maribor. She made her professional debut in Ljubljana in 2010. In the 2013/2014 season, she sang Adele and First Fairy in “Rusalka” in Maribor. Then came the Queen of the Night in Maribor and Osijek. Her stage roles include Sister Constance, Rosina, Norina, Violetta, Giulietta, Adina, and Zerbinetta. Dominko's concert appearances include “Carmina Burana,” Mozart’s “Spatzenmesse,” and Haydn’s “Missa brevis,” as well as many galas and concert evenings.
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). Apparently that wasn't enough warbling for one diva, so Donizetti succumbs the era's operatic conventions and gives Lucia even more to sing: a traditional cabaletta "Spargi d'amaro pianto."