Il trovatore, from Royal Opera House - live cinema streaming

[Stanfordian]

Last evening at the cinema I attended the live streaming of ‘Il trovatore’ from Royal Opera House, Julia Burbach’s revival of David Bösch’s production. It is a wonderful opera and I found it a highly enjoyable evening. I have been thinking about the production a lot today.

The presenters kept reminding the cinema audience of Enrico Caruso much used quote "that all it takes for successful performance of Il trovatore is the four greatest singers in the world."

The quartet of principal singers were on splendid form, especially the superb performances from Anita Rachvelishvili as Azucena and soprano Lianna Haroutounian as Leonora. Admirable too was baritone Vitaliy Bilyy as Count di Luna. Gregory Kunde sang well as Manrico and although it didn’t seem to matter that much, he looked more like Azucena’s father than her son.

Although I prefer a traditional staging modern production I did enjoy the set by Patrick Bannwart, or got used to it quite quickly. It was one of the darkest sets I have ever seen. On reflection it was interesting to so see the opera staged from a modern prospective.

[underthecountertenor]

Thanks for the report, Stanfordian. Makes me think I should have booked for this revival. The first outing was a bit disappointing, but I think they've tweaked the production since, and it certainly sounds from this as if they've improved the cast.

[gradus]

Having noticed that it was on at the cinema I forgot to book, ****** it! There are though some good things coming up in the near future, Rusalka, Traviata, Onegin, Butterfly and Rosenkavalier as well as Hedda Gabler if that's your thing.

[aeolium]

A bit OT, but if you don't mind live streaming to your computer (or TV if you have a compatible smart TV), the Vienna State Opera provides such a service reasonably cheaply:

https://www.staatsoperlive.com/en/subscription/

I recently watched their production of Alcina for just under £5. They also have some downloadable productions from their back catalogue. Not the same of course as watching on a big screen with high quality sound (or indeed being at an opera house live) but worth exploring imv.

[jean]

The cast I saw on Tuesday was - except for Azucena - different from the one that got rather poor reviews in December. It was excellent.

It's such a ridiculous story that I wasn't bothered by the excesses of the production.

[Pulcinella]

Having noticed that it was on at the cinema I forgot to book, ****** it! There are though some good things coming up in the near future, Rusalka, Traviata, Onegin, Butterfly and Rosenkavalier as well as Hedda Gabler if that's your thing.

Have a look if there's an Encore performance: there is in York (noon next Tuesday, a rather odd time, perhaps!).