Newspaper article about Julie Nagel's presentation on Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia: The Inside Story
By Theodore P. Mahne
New Orleans Times-Picayune
March 21, 2007
Reprinted by permission
Maybe they should've taken the knife away after cutting the wedding cake. Most brides-to-be face moments of pre-wedding jitters on their way to the altar. But for one of opera's most stressed-out brides, Lucia di Lammermoor, a few sessions on the psychoanalyst's couch might have led to a happier honeymoon.
"Lucia present a case where she is progressively falling deeper and deeper into a state of helplessness, analyst Julie Jaffee Nagel said. "She has been betrayed, and when she does move into action, the results are tragic.
Were she to seek out professional help before descending so deeply into the abyss, "we could help her overcome these strong impulse, help her to see and understand what her other options are."
Of course, then the opera probably would end shortly before the conclusion of the first act.
Donizetti chose instead to let his heroine descend more and more deeply into the abyss, resulting in one of the most glorious musical "Mad Scenes" ever created, and pleasing audiences for a century and a half now. It is expected to do so once more as the New Orleans Opera Association opens its spring season this weekend with "Lucia di Lammermoor." Nagel is convinced, however, that New Orleans audiences (who are continuing to deal with an assortment of stresses) can gain even more from the Scottish drama by viewing it from a psychological perspective. She'll be on hand this week for a pair of presentations exploring the mind and character of Lucia di Lammermoor.
The opera - which had its U.S. premiere in New Orleans in 1841 -is based on Sir Walter Scott's gothic novel "The Bride of Lammermoor." It centers on two feuding Scotch families of Lammermoor and Ravenswood. Lucia's brother Enrico, having fallen on hard times and on the wrong side of political winds, seeks to restore the family's standing by forcing his sister to marry Lord Arturo. Naturally, she has already pledged her love to the rival Edgardo of Ravenswood. As with any tale of star-crossed lovers - at least, in the world of opera - tragedy ensues.
To the mental health professional, the state of the heroine's psyche is clear from the outset.
"From the very opening notes of the opera, the ominous mood is portrayed," Nagel said. "The distant storm at the beginning foretells the very dark, ominous storms that are building in Lucia's own psyche!' While Donizetti doesn't let Lucia escape the growing storm, he uses the music to reveal her innermost feelings and thoughts, allowing for something of a forensic psychoanalysis.
"As a point of entry into the mind, music can often reveal things that words cannot," Nagel said. "It's more than just notes on the page. It's a natural combination. Music can go where words can't."
Diane Hammer, who chairs the committee on Psychoanalysis and the arts for the New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center, agrees. It's why the center is presenting Nagel's lecture and a panel discussion on the opera in conjunction with - this week's performances.
More than a psychological parlor game, by examining the opera from a mental health perspective, Hammer said, people can see how internal conflicts can play themselves out if not addressed.
"Lucia clearly acts out in the most severe way," she said. "Through therapy, those pacing similar or equally stressful situations can find other means of expression.
Combining the arts - especially music - and psychotherapy is a natural fit, Hammer said. "The whole creative process is really about expressing emotions."
Nagel knows that connection well, first becoming interested in the relationship between the arts and psychology while she was a student at the Juilliard School. "I tell people I majored in piano, minored in stage fright," she said.
Realizing that many schools and conservatories failed to address such issues as severe performance anxiety, she began exploring it herself. It eventually led her to a career as a psychologist and psychoanalyst. Now, she routinely uses various artistic disciplines to help patients handle whatever issues they may be facing.
"Culture and music," she said, "can be very healing aspects of our lives." Soprano Jane Redding, will sing the title role of Lucia this weekend, said that she's ready seen the healing power of music on New Orleans. Presenting this opera - any opera - is about much more than mere entertainment these days. "I know people need this distraction- It becomes one of the that life is going on and getting back to some kind of normality." Redding said. And the full houses that have greeted opera performances confirm this. "I was here for (last spring's) 'Barber of Seville' and was thrilled to see how packed the house was. It's a sign of vitality in the community."
Recognizing the complexity of the mind of Lucia is as important as grappling with the complexity of the vocal lines to truly capture the character, Redding said. "I've done a lot of research into the time and place of opera. The people of Lucia's were very superstitious. It a culture that saw everything as an omen or a sign," she said. "That atmosphere was a driving force of the psyche of the time."
Bringing that onto the stage is palpable, she said. 'You can't help but feel it - in the setting, in the music. You don't just a knowledge it; it possesses you.
For the challenge of the Mad Scene, in which all the emotion as well as the music, reaches a fever pitch, Redding said she actually finds restraint to be the key. "The bel canto style, with all said. "The tone is one that is mysteriously set apart from the rest of the opera - mirroring how Lucia is separated from all of those around her. Even in her vocal cadenzas, there are a lot of notes but no words. In those lone syllables, we see that she cannot even articulate her feelings, except through the music,, "A good relationship with an analyst would have helped her to find new melodies." Redding said Lucia is still a relatively new character for her, having sung it for about three years now.
"She's such a rich, multidimensional character, that I feel like I'm always growing and changing with her," she said. "She proves what we always say: Singing is a journey, not a destination."