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‘Wondrous’: the Russian mezzo Ekaterina Semenchuk as Azucena in Il trovatore at Covent Garden.
‘Wondrous’: the Russian mezzo Ekaterina Semenchuk as Azucena in Il trovatore at Covent Garden. Photograph: Tristram Kenton
‘Wondrous’: the Russian mezzo Ekaterina Semenchuk as Azucena in Il trovatore at Covent Garden. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Il trovatore; Le nozze di Figaro; Dean, Kennaway, O’Brien – review

This article is more than 7 years old
Royal Opera House, London; Glyndebourne, east Sussex; Hampstead parish church, London
Verdi’s troublesome Trovatore gets a Bösch job, Figaro wigs out, and small pleasures abound in church…

Corrosive vengeance. Bitter loss. Love between enemies. Maternal devotion. Verdi explores all these rich themes in Il trovatore – and yet it is so often written off as the problem opera of a golden period that also produced Rigoletto and La traviata. The crazily melodramatic plot and the two-dimensional nature of the characters make it difficult to stage convincingly and easy to mock: no wonder the Marx Brothers chose it as the backdrop to their lampooning A Night at the Opera.

Director David Bösch, making his Royal Opera debut in this new joint production with Frankfurt Opera, attempts to tackle at least some of these problems head on by placing the action in a modern civil war, pointing up the desperate situation of each side in the conflict and emphasising that war simultaneously sharpens the knife of vendetta and dulls any sense of decency.

So far, so good. But he also attempts to make sense of the story by having designer Patrick Bannwart’s stark battlefield of doomy blacks and greys dominated by a series of video back projections that, rather than illustrate the story, crassly detract from it. Update the setting by all means, but picture-book images of clumsy butterflies landing on barbed wire or flocks of menacing crows circling over graveyards are hardly necessary to remind us that war will always be a tragedy. Given that the plot revolves around a band of wandering Gypsies, it might have been more useful to reflect on the current European suspicion of “the other” rather than give us tired old pictorial cliches or gratuitous examples of violence.

Il trovatore updated to the present, complete with selfies. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Musically, at least, things are on firmer ground, with Italian maestro Gianandrea Noseda making a long-overdue ROH debut as conductor. The 11 performances are double-cast, throwing up some interesting comparisons. Cast A’s standout performers are the Italian tenor Francesco Meli, who, as heroic Manrico, the troubadour of the title, has exactly the right level of brute determination in his voice to really convince, and mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk as Azucena, the Gypsy determined to avenge the death of her mother. Her range of vocal colour, particularly in Stride la vampa, is wondrous.

Not so assured in these roles are cast B’s American tenor Gregory Kunde, who lacks the necessary firepower, and Russia’s Marina Prudenskaya, who, while possessing a ruby-red mezzo, has a curious tendency to emphasise every phrase with a crouching bend of the waist.

The role of the villainous Count di Luna is shared between the Serbian baritone Zeljko Lučić and our own Christopher Maltman, making his role debut. Maltman is a commanding presence, his voice rich and powerful, even if his intonation occasionally slips. Lučić, in contrast, seems strangely detached and vocally restrained. Crucially, Luna is unwitting brother to his rival in love, Manrico. Lučić seems at least 20 years older than Meli, whereas the match between Maltman and Kunde is uncanny.

‘Grace, charm and real refinement’: Lianna Haroutounian as Leonora with the excellent Francesco Meli as Manrico. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Verdi makes big technical demands of the hapless Leonora, but both casts are blessed with equally assured sopranos – Lianna Haroutounian and Anna Pirozzi. Haroutounian sings with grace, charm and real refinement, while Pirozzi flashes with cool, technical brilliance.

And a special word for the woodwind of the Royal Opera orchestra. Listen out for their chorale in the introductory music to Act 4: it’s a glorious moment.

No double-casting at Glyndebourne. Instead, a teamwork approach that engenders some outstanding ensemble singing, nowhere more evident than in this year’s revival of Michael Grandage’s effervescent production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro.

Exquisitely designed by Christopher Oram and stylishly revived by Ian Rutherford, this is a Figaro that lets the music drive the comedy, not the other way around. Not that Grandage is above adding some of his own amusements: he moves the action to the 1960s and has the men in comical long-haired wigs, flared trousers and tie-dyed shirts, while the women sport patent leather boots, miniskirts and yards of beads. And the dancing is hilarious – stately minuets are replaced by the mashed potato.

A top cast includes some notable debuts: the South African soprano Golda Schultz makes a tremendous, honey-toned Countess Almaviva; Italian baritone Davide Luciano is a twinkle-toed, crafty Figaro, while Italian bass Carlo Lepore is a genuinely funny Bartolo. Rosa Feola, a witty and spirited Susanna, shares a fine sense of comedy with the Hungarian-Romanian baritone Gyula Orendt, who plays her pursuer, the ever-randy but finally humbled Count Almaviva.

Much of the success of the fine ensemble singing is due to the sensitive conducting of Jonathan Cohen, who in the trios and septets shows forensic skill in drawing out individual vocal lines, allowing us to hear every detail – something not always evident in the playing of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Away from the glitter and glamour of international opera, most of us experience professional music-making at local level, in countless small concerts held in halls and churches all over the country. Sometimes – just sometimes – they can produce miraculous moments of alchemy. When the feathery lightness of Paul Dean’s clarinet joins with the coolly articulated cello of Trish O’Brien and the beautifully judged pianism of Igor Kennaway, musical gold pours forth. Their reading of the Mozart Kegelstatt Trio K498 was a sophisticated delight, an object lesson in playful interaction and sheer good taste. Monumental solemnity came in the form of Elégie Juive and Three Poems by Kennaway’s stepfather Benjamin Frankel, before there was a return to more cheeky fun in Beethoven’s bubbling Clarinet Trio in B flat major, Op 11.

It’s not always necessary to spend heavily on top-priced tickets to hear outstandingly talented musicians. Sometimes, just a few pounds left in a retiring collection can buy you an hour of heaven.

Star ratings (out of five)
Il trovatore ***
Le nozze di Figaro ****
Dean, Kennaway, O’Brien ****

Il trovatore is at the Royal Opera House, London until 17 July

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