On March 21, at Trinity Lutheran Church of Manhattan, on West 100th Street, the West Side Opera Society, under Artistic Director David Clenny, gave a concert performance of Gaetano Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor," fairly complete save for the Wolf's Crag tower scene and the quartet between parts of the mad scene, with a high-level cast, as a benefit for the Lutheran World Relief Fund for Haiti.

Prior to the "Lucia," veteran New York City Opera and NBC Opera soprano Elaine Malbin spoke about the dire situation in Haiti, in the wake of the earthquake in January, and lauded the good work of the Relief Fund. Then, with Clenny at the piano, octogenarian Metropolitan Opera singer Lucine Amara floated pure soprano tone in an account of Marietta's Lied, "Glück, das mir verblieb," from Erich Korngold's "Die Tote Stadt," that belied her years and would have done a singer half her age proud. Finally, Amara, as the Countess, and Evelyn La Quef, her adopted daughter, as Susanna, blended voices in a delightful "Canzonetta sull'aria," from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro."

In "Lucia," Sara Henry, tackling the daunting title role for the first time, lent silvery tone to "Regnava nel silenzio ... Quando rapito in estasi," capping the cabaletta with a bright high D. With Clenny adding synthesizer to the piano, for the flute, armonica, and other eerie sounds inside Lucia's head, Henry impressed with a riveting mad scene, capturing Lucia's irrational joys and terrors, effectively executing staccato and legato ornaments in the extended interpolated cadenza, and crowning both cadenza and cabaletta, "Spargi d'amaro pianto," with ringing high E-flats.

Soprano Henry and tenor Antonio Giuliano, as Edgardo, brought apt urgency to their duet, "Sulla tomba che rinserra," in which he sang the written, but almost never heard high E-flat to her high C, near the end of the final repetition of "Verranno a te sull'aure." Giuliano brought the opera to a close with an affecting "Fra poco a me ricovero ... Tu che a Dio siegasti l'ali."

Baritone Gregg Lauterbach as Enrico, Lucia's brother, delivered a dramatic "Cruda, funesta smania ... La pietade in suo furore" (one verse of cabaletta), in the opening scene, and sparred with Henry over his choice of bridegroom for her in their Act Two, Scene One duet, to which she added high D-flat and D. Bass Michael O'Hearn, as Raimondo, the chaplain, sonorously offered his insidious counsel to Lucia, to forget Edgardo and marry Arturo, and in pious horror, informed the wedding guests of the tragic consequences, when Lucia stabbed her unwanted groom.

An especially bright spot between parts of the wedding scene chorus, "Per te d'immenso giubilo," was tenor Dorian Balis' polished "Per poco fra le tenebre," Arturo's solo. Sarah Beaty as Alisa and Eduardo Medrano as Normanno made worthy contributions. Beaty and Balis will be heard in upcoming Manhattan School of Music productions of George Frideric Handel's "Il Pastor Fido" (Beaty) and Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" (Balis).

The full cast and chorus can be commended for fine ensemble work in the sextet, "Chi mi frena in tal momento," and for infusing this confrontation with the necessary tension.

Clenny has in mind either Gioachino Rossini's comedy "La Cambiale di Matrimonio" or Vincenzo Bellini's tragic "Beatrice di Tenda" for West Side Opera's next production.