IL TROVATORE
IL TROVATORE, Opera Australia at the Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, 29 January - 5 March 2013. Photos by Branco Gaica: Milijana Nikolic and chorus. Right: Milijana Nikolic and Arnold Rawls.
The last time this production was staged was 2007 when I wrote the review that can be found on this website (go to the search box, enter Il Trovatore and you'll find it in the archive). Re-reading the review after the first night of the latest season was a bit of a shock. It was barely recognisable as the same staging. This isn't entirely unexpected of course, time has passed - six years - and the cast is different. Nevertheless, the clarity of purpose perceived and written about in 2007 is almost entirely absent now. The consequence is a visual and dramatic mishmash through which the singers stagger, aimless, uncomprehending and with little conviction in their collective or individual raisons d'être.
The opera itself survives - how can it not? Verdi's 1853 masterpiece is one of the most popular and musically memorable pieces in the repertoire. But in this rendition it's so dramatically diminished it's often hard to watch: closed eyes and attention to the singing and music is by far the better option.
The clue to what's wrong is in the program: "directed by Matthew Barclay" and then, "based on a production by Elke Neidhardt". How another person can realise the vision of another - unless that person has worked closely with the other on the original - is a mystery. Sadly, however, the answer is really quite simple: that person probably cannot.
It means the original director's vision and purpose is lost or muddled while the incoming substitute (or however you care to describe the job) is hog-tied by pre-existing set, costumes and underlying purpose and the result is compromise. It happened when Lindy Hume's innovative and spectacular Carmen was taken over by A.N. Other and it's happened here with Il Trovatore - a notoriously tricky story that had previously been clarified and illuminated is once again unnecessarily bewildering.
Nevertheless, there is much to enjoy. In particular, Milijana Nikolic as the gypsy Azucena, is an exciting dramatic and vocal presence. She can act and her voice is electrifying - she will be one of the alternating title role singers in the Handa on the Harbour Carmen, in March, and that's a thrilling prospect.
As the bespectacled and dog-collared cleric Ferrando, Richard Anderson looks weirdly like Jose Ramos Horta (from row M, that is) but his accurate and warm singing suggests otherwise. The troubadour-revolutionary Manrico and his jealous rival, the Count di Luna are nicely achieved by Arnold Rawls and Michael Honeyman; while the object of their affections, Leonora - Daria Masiero - settled into the role as the evening went on, and Sian Pendry, as her confidant and sister Inez made an impact beyond the bounds of the supporting role.
The other prerequisite for Il Trovatore is a first rate chorus and orchestra and this production has both. Chorus master Michael Black and, in the pit, conductor Arvo Volmer bring the possibly conflicting needs for precision and sumptuousness gloriously together. Except in this production's once-horrifying spectacle of the Anvil Chorus, in which bodies of slaughtered revolutionaries are roughly manhandled onto a dray, but now the original choreography's sense of purpose and timing are missing and the result is desultory and callous.
Nevertheless, for those who love the musical treasury of Il Trovatore, this is Verdi at his best and beautifully performed by the company and young principals. And effective as ever is Michael Scott-Mitchell's dramatic set of a war-torn Spanish village that morphs from ruins to plaza to a wall of glowing icons (wonderful lighting by Nick Schlieper); while Judith Hoddinott's semi-peasant, semi-fascist military costumes illuminate the 1930s re-setting of the story.
