We flew up from Melbourne to hear this performance at the Sydney Opera House, conducted by Arvo Volmer. It was an enjoyable evening - the production updated the era to the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, which worked fairly well, although wandering troubadors and burnings at the stake were of course hardly in vogue during that period...
The set was an ingenious artillery-shattered wall which sounds drab but which was used effectively with various rotating stage effects. One wondered why in their opening scene Leonora and Inez didn't ask why there were two huge piles of rubble and an oil drum in the bedroom. In fact the role of Leonora, sung by Daria Masiero (ironically the only Italian in the cast) was the one weakness, as she did not seem vocally up to the part. Her CV lists an impressive range of roles but she is clearly better suited to Mozart and lighter Italian parts. Most of her dramatic duets with Manrico (Met rising star Arnold Rawls) and the Count were marred by her squally singing, which occasionally descended into shrieking.
The remainder of the roles were pretty well sung, especially by Michael Honeyman making his debut as the Count di Luna. He sang his touching solo in Act 2 wonderfully. Milijana Nikolic was also vocally impressive as Azucena, shuffling around the stage in a pink cardigan, greatcoat and army boots.
There was a bizarrely comic opening to the second act set in a barracks when members of the chorus (or probably some male strippers who had been 'drafted') disrobed fully - plenty of toned buttocks on display (and a few whoops from the audience). As another member of the chorus had donned a white coat and snapped on a rubber glove with grim relish we were worried a full prostate examination was about to occur, but fortunately the Count's entry put paid to that.
The conducting of Arvo Volmer was fine in the lyrical sections but generally the instrumental contribution seemed underpowered in the many dramatic highlights, though that may be the fault of the orchestra of Opera Australia who are perhaps understrength, or simply not as fine as their European or American counterparts - they could not compare to the Finnish Opera we heard in an excellent Die Walkure in Helsinki just over a year ago, conducted by Leif Segerstam
The set was an ingenious artillery-shattered wall which sounds drab but which was used effectively with various rotating stage effects. One wondered why in their opening scene Leonora and Inez didn't ask why there were two huge piles of rubble and an oil drum in the bedroom. In fact the role of Leonora, sung by Daria Masiero (ironically the only Italian in the cast) was the one weakness, as she did not seem vocally up to the part. Her CV lists an impressive range of roles but she is clearly better suited to Mozart and lighter Italian parts. Most of her dramatic duets with Manrico (Met rising star Arnold Rawls) and the Count were marred by her squally singing, which occasionally descended into shrieking.
The remainder of the roles were pretty well sung, especially by Michael Honeyman making his debut as the Count di Luna. He sang his touching solo in Act 2 wonderfully. Milijana Nikolic was also vocally impressive as Azucena, shuffling around the stage in a pink cardigan, greatcoat and army boots.
There was a bizarrely comic opening to the second act set in a barracks when members of the chorus (or probably some male strippers who had been 'drafted') disrobed fully - plenty of toned buttocks on display (and a few whoops from the audience). As another member of the chorus had donned a white coat and snapped on a rubber glove with grim relish we were worried a full prostate examination was about to occur, but fortunately the Count's entry put paid to that.
The conducting of Arvo Volmer was fine in the lyrical sections but generally the instrumental contribution seemed underpowered in the many dramatic highlights, though that may be the fault of the orchestra of Opera Australia who are perhaps understrength, or simply not as fine as their European or American counterparts - they could not compare to the Finnish Opera we heard in an excellent Die Walkure in Helsinki just over a year ago, conducted by Leif Segerstam
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