"Wow! What a great madwoman!"

A simplification, perhaps, of Donizetti's opera, "Lucia di Lammermoor," but if one had to encapsule this tragically romantic work, that phrase, uttered by a woman leaving Friday night's production in Overture Hall, would be as concise and accurate as any.

A singer-actress (not the one in this staging) said of her lead role as Lucia and the opera in general, "Music is not the last goal; it's a way to achieve the goal, which is theater."

Well, it helps a great deal in reaching that theatrical goal if the music is sumptuous, memorably melodic, often powerful in emotional impact, sympathetic to — but also demanding of — the singers, and flows nicely from beginning to end in true bel canto style.

Madison Opera's "Lucia" shone as fine theater, almost seamlessly combining Donizetti's 1835 constant succession of wonderful musical moments with a libretto (by Salavatore Cammarano) that with clarity and pace successfully dares you to suspend disbelief over the melodramatic story. This is among the best of Italian operas.

Up front, of course, comes the question of how goes the Mad Scene, the focal point of the opera, which demands so much of a colorature soprano for some 17 to 18 minutes.

Luz del Alba, in a blood-stained nightgown, acted and sang the scene wonderfully well, encompassing the wildly fluctuating moods and shifts in expression with sensitivity, and with vocal agility and freedom in gleaming high notes, in fortissimo and pianissimo passages.

It was not a nuanced interpretation. Alba emphasized her descent into insanity with appropriately active stage movement and histrionics that were extreme but not overdone. It helps greatly that she is a lovely woman, vulnerably girlish in appearance, which perfectly suits the character. She has a technically fine approach to singing, with a voice that is secure at any range, youthful in sound, but not shrill or harsh.

Sir Walter Scott's historical romance of Scottish nobility, "The Bride of Lammermoor." tells of Lucia being forced into marriage for wealth, even though Lucia pledged her love to a hated rival of her brother. On her wedding night she stabs her new husband.

As intensely emotional as Lucia is her love, Edgardo, sung by Bobert Breault with conviction and with nearly the same vocal agility as Alba. Breault has a solid lyric tenor voice and acted well.

Baritone Quinn Kelsey as Lucia's wicked and bullying brother, Enrico Ashton, brought an intensely menacing and unfeeling aura to the part, with a correspondingly rich, muscular voice.

Bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen has consistently been a reliable performer in Madison Opera performancees and was as robust in voice as ever as the clergyman to the Ashton family, a voice of reason, sometimes mistakenly.

In fact, the entire cast sang well, with a nod to a competent chorus.

While the opera has a fair number of memorable arias, including a lovers duet of high quality, the best-known is the celebrated sextet, a towering monument in operatic moments,

Michael Scarola's stage direction included quite a bit of detail and movement, but, most important, he let the singers project into the audience. The orchestra led by John Keenan played with lilting grandeur but had a few rough moments.

The set, primarily a cavernous open mass of grey stone with a visually effective front-to-back slope, was adapted nicely to fit the various scenes, and the resplendent costuming fit the times.

"Lucia" will be repeated at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. It is worth seeing.