"Lucia di Lammermoor" by Gaetano Donizetti, a prominent 19th-century Italian composer, is an operatic classic and a defining work of the Italian bel canto (beautiful singing) tradition. It exists to showcase breathtaking high notes, expansive arias, and the rare ability to align vocal color and pitch with emotional depth. These qualities were precisely why I wanted to see a performance by the Ankara State Opera and Ballet (Ankara DOB) in Türkiye’s capital last week. My expectations were driven especially by the role of Lucia, one of the most demanding and distinctive roles in the operatic repertoire.

On the night of Jan. 5, when the curtain rose, the stage, conceived in line with the opera’s Gothic narrative, was visually impressive. Through skillful lighting effects, the set evoked a castle rising from the midst of a restless sea. Lighting designer Ali Gökdemir and set designer Çağda Çıtkaya deserve genuine appreciation. Unfortunately, from that point on, the production ceased to feel like an operatic classic and instead came to resemble a large-scale elementary school pageant.

As the chorus searched the castle for the intruder, half of its members cast puzzled glances upward, as if questioning why the lights had gone out. Beyond this carelessness, the chorus was strikingly disorganized and far from unified. Their singing, more reminiscent of shouting market vendors than disciplined choral work, makes it difficult to describe what they did as singing at all. They appeared detached from the director’s concept and frequently fell out of sync with the orchestra. By the final act, the ensemble had completely unraveled. Their lack of seriousness toward the work, as well as their insufficient rehearsal, was unmistakably evident.

Emre Akkuş, in the role of Sir Edgardo, marked my second major disappointment of the evening. I had already described his performance as Pang at Antalya’s historic Aspendos last summer as a fiasco. Seeing him again in Edgardo, it was impossible not to feel sorry. From the moment he stepped onstage, the tenor sang timidly. On nearly every note above the passaggio, his voice either cracked or slipped into falsetto in an attempt to avoid cracking. While struggling with technical issues throughout the night, he cracked repeatedly and delivered yet another fiasco. I have never before witnessed a singer crack so frequently. It recalled the cries of old Tarzan films. Opera is also a visual art, and attention to physical condition matters. Edgardo was not a role his voice deserved. Even being cast as Normanno in this opera would have been a reward for him.

Görkem Ezgi Yıldırım, as Miss Lucia, failed to meet the demands of a role that calls for a deeply moving and compelling interpretation. Instead of confident coloratura, silvery high notes, refined pianissimos and polished trills, she sang with a dull, matte tone lacking brilliance. In the famous mad scene of the third act, "Oh, giusto cielo! ... Il dolce suono” ("Oh merciful heaven! ... The sweet sound”), her performance fell short. This scene requires mastery both physically and emotionally. While one expects swift transitions between vocal colors, she was unable to convey the mounting hysteria either vocally or dramatically. The high notes at the conclusion of the aria resembled cries rather than controlled singing.

This role should have been entrusted to a soprano with superior technique and strong dramatic ability. Yıldırım’s monochromatic singing, devoid of tonal variety, did not suit the role, and the dullness of her voice failed to bring out Lucia’s dark and powerful character. Her voice sounded less like true coloratura and more like a soubrette imitating it. As an actress, she remained emotionally distant and failed to convince the audience. Perhaps her insistence on presenting her mere presence onstage as a favor to others, rather than focusing on vocal quality, was her greatest obstacle. Given the demands of the role, she should have foregrounded vocal beauty and the natural lyric quality of her voice far more than she did. She would likely be better served by returning to the soubrette roles she has sung in the past.

Arda Aktar, as Lord Enrico, adopted the posture of a villain but appeared to be performing pantomime rather than opera. Despite the orchestra being reduced to piano dynamics during his passages, he struggled to project his voice into the hall. Beyond the first two rows, he was barely audible. Enrico demands a dark, powerful baritone, yet Aktar’s tenor-baritone voice proved insufficient. His inability to sustain legato made his singing sound syllabic and fragmented. I would urgently recommend that he retrain as a tenor. His acting was mediocre, and he failed to convey the character’s dramatic range.

Hüseyin Durangöz, in the role of Lord Arturo, may have appeared amateurish as an actor, but his bright and powerful voice made him one of the strongest performers of the evening. Despite moments of uncertainty onstage, he deserved the role of Edgardo far more than Emre Akkuş.

Yiğitcan Tatlıoğlu, as Raimondo, impressed with his command of both the music and the staging and showed clear improvement compared with his earlier performances. He will need to work on the dullness and strain in his upper register, but he was nonetheless among the evening’s more successful performers.

H. Zeliha Tunçyürek, as Alisa, captivated the audience with her resonant, well-projected voice. She stood out as an exceptional talent. Her acting was fluid and engaging. Particularly striking was her singing from the back of the stage in the first act, overpowering Lucia’s voice at the front. The moment left a strong impression. I expect to see her in much larger roles in the future. Along with Hüseyin Durangöz, she was the best of the night.

Efe Kıncal, as Normanno, was vocally weak in his tenor role but compensated with convincing acting that helped mask his vocal shortcomings.

Zeynep Olcayto was highly effective in the ballet of Ghost and successfully transported the audience into a dreamlike world.

Artur Hoinic, the conductor, was among the evening’s successes. He worked diligently to interpret Donizetti’s score faithfully and to bring out its many colors. At times, he struggled to rein in an orchestra that played without sufficient control, particularly when drawing them down to piano dynamics. In the final act, he made notable efforts to absorb Edgardo’s loss of control and ongoing technical problems. He also did his best to adjust the orchestra to accommodate weaker singers. Still, the Ankara opera orchestra’s chronic intonation problems once again surfaced in this production.

Significant details

While the set design was highly successful, the costumes were equally weak. Lucia appeared frailer than her maid, making it unclear who was the lady and who was the servant. The chorus costumes were inadequate and marked by careless mismatches.

The movement-driven staging was insufficient in establishing clear cause-and-effect relationships. Given the director’s background in choreography, this shortcoming may have seemed natural. The effective use of lighting and bold red tones did succeed in conveying the Gothic atmosphere. While not outstanding, the direction can be considered relatively successful. It was notably better than some of Ankara DOB’s recent productions.

Repeated mistakes

The poor casting choices in Lucia di Lammermoor recalled the Turandot performance sung by Feryal Türkoğlu that I had previously witnessed. These were the two worst consecutive performances I have seen in Ankara, and despite their disastrous outcomes, the same casting decisions were repeated.

The new general director and artistic director of Ankara DOB, Demet Gökalp, approved these deeply flawed productions immediately upon taking office. Despite their failure, she insisted on casting Türkoğlu in Turandot twice. Today, she repeats the same mistake with Arda Aktar and Emre Akkuş, persisting despite their evident inadequacy. This insistence can only be attributed to a lack of operatic knowledge. Gökalp is a cellist with no formal opera or vocal training. The previous director, Mithat Karakelle, was also not a conservatory graduate. His predecessor was a ballet dancer. The general director and artistic director of the State Opera and Ballet, Tan Sağtürk, is likewise a ballet dancer. While I cannot personally fault the general director, the inadequacies I continue to observe suggest that his deputy, ballet dancer Volkan Ersoy, also lacks sufficient understanding of opera.

If opera is to regain artistic value in Türkiye, Ankara must first appoint a director who truly understands the art form. An opera institution run by cellists, ballet dancers and singers without formal diplomas inevitably ends up resembling an elementary school pageant rather than a true artistic institution.