Verdi : Il Trovatore
Chorus of Il Trovatore
The Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Tobias Ringborg
Il Trovatore is one of the world's most popular operas, and I am, accordingly, pretty familiar with it, both in performance and on record. After all these years, I still entertain something of a love-hate relationship with it, and I have yet to have a totally satisfying experience of it on stage. Half of all performances bore me to tears, through any combination of poor singing, playing and/or direction. The other half remind me that there are bits worth sticking around for. Fortunately, this one fell into the latter category.
Oddly enough, it was only half a new production, in that the sets had been retained from a 1992 staging by Scottish Opera, a high, cylindrical semi-circle divided into three curved segments, able to be disposed around the stage area in multiple formations. It was tidy, visually, and not ineffective, with some good video lighting at times, but between that uniformly grey background, and the neutral costumes, the overall impression was very sober, not to say dull. Martin Lloyd-Evans provided the new direction, nothing exotic, quite straightforward, no futile attempts to paper over the absurdities of the plot (and there are many), but nothing to illuminate the characters particularly either.
So everything really came down to the singers and orchestra. The chorus was a touch ragged at times, but that's something that works quite well in this opera, it suits the situations, and as long as it's brief, it doesn't disturb. Otherwise, the sound was rousing and robust, as it should be. Apart from David Morrison's very quavery Old Gypsy, the secondary roles were all sound, and Jonathan May's Ferrando provided a good launch for the evening, while conductor Tobias Ringborg made it clear from the start that he was able to prevent the orchestra from sounding too pedestrian.
However, for me, the first act of Trovatore is almost insufferable, and I consider it mostly of use for taking the vocal temperature of the three principals who appear. That, on the whole, was promising, though as di Luna, Roland Wood's vibrato was too obtrusive for my liking, and he was really playing the heavy - more Scarpia than anything else - which seems a bit exaggerated. Also, "Il balen del tuo sorriso" was very, very slow, which pushed his control to the limit, and a little beyond.
The opera comes to life from the second act, and the appearance of Azucena. "Stride la vampa" was a little disappointing, because Anne Mason's voice doesn't quite have the flexibility for the vocal ornamentation required in that aria. However, it's the only time, in the role, that any real kind of decoration is required, the rest of Azucena's part is more flowing, and Mason's vibrant timbre, and her strong stage presence, were admirably suited to it.
Claire Rutter, a seasoned Verdian soprano, made the wide range of Leonora's role sound easy; the vocal embellishments were delivered with ease and a warm lustre, and the top was bright and sure. Finally, all the most Italianate tenors in the UK come from Wales, and Gwyn Hughes Jones was no exception. He has a tendency to sing consistently loudly during moments of high tension - it's not that he can't sing quietly, as he demonstrated ably in the final scene - and the voice is not always beautiful, but it's valiant and confident, and that's usually good enough for Manrico.
While this performance never really delivered on a visceral level (which is where Trovatore is most effective) it was nevertheless well put-together, with reliable, good quality vocal performances - as I said, the kind of performance that reminds you that there are bits worth hearing!
[Next : 14th May]
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