Il Trovatore - Royal Opera House

[JohnS]

Opening night was Friday so I thought I’d start a thread as I saw Thursday’s General Rehearsal. Much to admire musically with Tony Pappano conjuring his magic from soloists, chorus and orchestra. Jamie Barton’s Azucena is a must see, simply astounding. But I’m afraid the production did little for me with soldiers, gypsies etc seemingly having escaped from a cartoon strip which I thought undermined the drama, the pathos of the final scene shattered by the chorus’s cavortings. That said I’m planning to see a performance towards the end of the run if all goes well, largely for the musical excellence but I’m also hoping a second viewing will be easier on the eye as at least there shouldn’t be too many surprises.
 

 

[MJW]

1 hour ago, JohnS said:

Opening night was Friday so I thought I’d start a thread as I saw Thursday’s General Rehearsal. Much to admire musically with Tony Pappano conjuring his magic from soloists, chorus and orchestra. Jamie Barton’s Azucena is a must see, simply astounding. But I’m afraid the production did little for me with soldiers, gypsies etc seemingly having escaped from a cartoon strip which I thought undermined the drama, the pathos of the final scene shattered by the chorus’s cavortings. That said I’m planning to see a performance towards the end of the run if all goes well, largely for the musical excellence but I’m also hoping a second viewing will be easier on the eye as at least there shouldn’t be too many surprises.
 

 

 

The production had a very poor review in the Telegraph over the weekend. I'm not an opera fan anyway, but bizarre stagings etc don't exactly add to the appeal! 

[JohnS]

The Guardian’s critic gave 5 stars and includes the statement: Adele Thomas’s staging finds ways to be entertaining without diminishing the tragedy. I’m afraid I thought the tomfoolery was at odds with the drama but I’ll give it a second go.

[Mary]

That's interesting John- it is not a favourite of mine anyway and I fear your comments confirm my intention not to go....

I am wondering when was the last time there was a new opera production in this country that did not feature either urinals, universal grey dreardom, or bizarre gimmicks? a friend new to opera has just been to Glyndebourne and was put off for life I fear - such a great shame.

[Sim]

2 hours ago, Mary said:

That's interesting John- it is not a favourite of mine anyway and I fear your comments confirm my intention not to go....

I am wondering when was the last time there was a new opera production in this country that did not feature either urinals, universal grey dreardom, or bizarre gimmicks? a friend new to opera has just been to Glyndebourne and was put off for life I fear - such a great shame.

This is clearly how they think they will attract new audiences.  Let's bring it down to the lowest common denominator and that oughta do it.  I was so put off by Rigoletto at the ROH a few years ago that I have hardly dared to try any other new productions!

[Lizbie1]

17 minutes ago, Sim said:

This is clearly how they think they will attract new audiences.

 

I'm not sure it's that well-intentioned! There was in interview with Kasper Holten a few years ago where my main impression was that we need to put up with this barrel of Regietheater cliches so that Kasper isn't bored. (I don't mind good Regietheater but a lot of it is just duff and unimaginative.) My reading is that there is a prevailing taste among superintendents for this kind of thing and the audience is a lesser concern.

 

I do get the impression that Oliver Mears is a little more inclined to compromise on this than his predecessor, but time will tell.

[Sim]

Let's  hope so...

[Scheherezade]

2 hours ago, Sim said:

This is clearly how they think they will attract new audiences.  Let's bring it down to the lowest common denominator and that oughta do it.  I was so put off by Rigoletto at the ROH a few years ago that I have hardly dared to try any other new productions!

If you think the old Rigoletto was bad, all I can say is that things have gone massively downhill since then. And I personally find that the young, or other new audiences, far prefer the older, more aesthetically pleasing productions with a time-appropriate setting that makes sense of the content. 

[Scheherezade]

1 hour ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

I'm not sure it's that well-intentioned! There was in interview with Kasper Holten a few years ago where my main impression was that we need to put up with this barrel of Regietheater cliches so that Kasper isn't bored. (I don't mind good Regietheater but a lot of it is just duff and unimaginative.) My reading is that there is a prevailing taste among superintendents for this kind of thing and the audience is a lesser concern.

 

I do get the impression that Oliver Mears is a little more inclined to compromise on this than his predecessor, but time will tell.

Yes, that infamous comment of his that if UK audiences don’t like that sort of thing, they would have to be educated until they learnt better. 

[Scheherezade]

20 hours ago, JohnS said:

Opening night was Friday so I thought I’d start a thread as I saw Thursday’s General Rehearsal. Much to admire musically with Tony Pappano conjuring his magic from soloists, chorus and orchestra. Jamie Barton’s Azucena is a must see, simply astounding. But I’m afraid the production did little for me with soldiers, gypsies etc seemingly having escaped from a cartoon strip which I thought undermined the drama, the pathos of the final scene shattered by the chorus’s cavortings. That said I’m planning to see a performance towards the end of the run if all goes well, largely for the musical excellence but I’m also hoping a second viewing will be easier on the eye as at least there shouldn’t be too many surprises.
 

 

Such a shame about the staging as I have massively enjoyed Adele Thomas’ previous productions - Bajazet and Berenice in the Linbury. 
 

I am going on Thursday but I won’t be holding my breath with this one which, from what I’ve read, would seem to give a nod, at times, to the same type of  bizarrely comedic approach that ruined the bacchanale in the ROH’s recent Samson and Dalila for me. 

I am, however, really looking forward to Jamie Barton’s Azucena. 

[Sebastian]

Here is the view of a very experienced opera lover (I am seeing this show later in the run):

 

>>Just back from an invigorating Trovatore. I am pretty much with The Guardian - I have reservations about Jamie Barton. It isn't that Azucena needs a Stephanie Blythe voice - Anne Mason did very well with a voice that verged on soprano territory - but it calls for a uniformity of depth through the range of the part, which she couldn't quite manage. The best bits in the second half were rivetting but there were duff passages. Hieronymus Bosch antics for the  chorus and the leaping ghouls provide a refreshing way of dealing with what can be stodgy, and the blocking is superb. All cabaletta repeats and cuts elsewhere opened up. The antics did not hinder a very clear presentation of  the narrative. All helped by some striking lighting. Barton reservations aside, the singing was all good, not of the highest quality (Rodvanovsky and Hvorostovsky are too fresh in the memory for that). Wonderful work from the chorus and in the pit. I am not often moved  by Trovatore but I was tonight.

 

>>We have had new productions of 3 Verdi operas in the post lockdown era. Aida and Rigoletto are problematic and neither worked for me. Adele Thomas has found an excellent mix for Trovatore and, unlike Richard Fairman in the FT,  I hope to see it again in future seasons. Unlikely for a shared production. But it is a wonderful show, one of the best. I am  back for Kunde's Manrico later in the month.

 

 

[Scheherezade]

Well, I went last night to two cast changes: Stefano La Colla replacing Riccardo Massi as Manrico and Yulia Matochkina in place of Jamie Barton’s Azucena and all I can say is that they were both fabulous, a sentiment seemingly shared by the rest of the audience, judging by the level of applause and ongoing bravi given to both of them throughout. 

I didn’t know what to make of the staging. Your guess is as good as mine as to what those weirdly lumbering creatures, possibly meant to be gypsies, had to do with anything. Or, for that matter, the dancers leaping and tumbling in an overtly choreographed manner whenever the chorus (presumably soldiers, not that you’d have known) were on stage. A stage, I should mention, comprised of nothing more than a set of steps stretching from end to end, predictably grey, but occasionally lit with red or orange whenever the libretto spoke of blood or death.

 

But hey, the singing was great, way better than I was expecting from the largely iffy reviews so far. Or perhaps I struck it lucky with last night’s cast. 

Edited June 9, 2023 by Scheherezade

[Geoff]

In case people haven’t seen this review, here is Fiona Maddocks in today’s Observer:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jun/10/il-trovatore-royal-opera-house-adele-thomas-review-the-planets-philharmonia-emilia-holving-bold-tendencies-dennis-gnasher-unleashed-at-the-orchestra-bbc-concert-orchestra-jackson-colin-currie-gavin-higgins-beano-concerto

 

 

[Lizbie1]

1 hour ago, Geoff said:

In case people haven’t seen this review, here is Fiona Maddocks in today’s Observer:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jun/10/il-trovatore-royal-opera-house-adele-thomas-review-the-planets-philharmonia-emilia-holving-bold-tendencies-dennis-gnasher-unleashed-at-the-orchestra-bbc-concert-orchestra-jackson-colin-currie-gavin-higgins-beano-concerto

 

 

 

I would read it but it's more enjoyable speculating about the URL instead.

[JohnS]

I was very pleased to see Friday’s Il Trovatore and remain hugely impressed by Jamie Barton’s Azucena and Ludovic Tézier‘s Count di Luna. Rachel Willis-Sørensen replaced Marina Rebekah as Leonora, a lovely tone if perhaps not as precise in the coloratura. I wasn’t as taken with Riccardo Massi’s Manrico. The chorus and orchestra under Tony Pappano were fabulous and I was just very surprised that the chorus didn’t appear at the curtain call.

 

I still find the production very hard to take, particularly as regards the chorus. I like the simplicity of the design. I think the dancers make an interesting contribution. But the chorus to me is most effective when stock still (there are some terrific tableau where the presentation is absolutely compelling) or off stage as for the nuns. The jokey movements just get in the way, undermining the drama. I think we’re supposed to be thankful that Luna has left his pink costume in Zurich but the gold lame substitute still looks ludicrous. It’s almost as if Monty Python should have been credited - anvils, clouds, enormous cut outs for the front piece replacing the curtain, gold lame and crowd antics.

[Geoff]

The Insight masterclass with Greg Kunde last week excited me still further to hear him in the part, not long now! 

[Timmie]

Il Trovatore on BBC Radio Three tonight at 6:30pm. I couldn't believe Jamie Barton’s vocal range in the theatre so I'll be listening to hear that again!