I thought that as I am getting the Del Prado partworks opera DVDs on a fortnightly basis, I might as well review them as I watch them. On in between weeks, I shall review the other videos and DVDs in my collection.
The plot is kind of complicated to explain but quite easy to follow, and includes quite a few gruesome deaths. For some reason I keep getting it mixed up with La Forza Del Destino, when in fact they have nothing in common except for music by Verdi, based on plays by Spanish playwrights of about the same time, and various gruesome deaths, taking refuge in a convent, the friend who is determined to spend his life looking, and the key involvement of gypsies.
Okay, so quite similar then. But Forza's most famous tune is the Stella Artois advert.
I actually got this one last week but only got round to playing it today. When I bought it I turned my nose up because of the presence in it of Pavarotti, who does nothing for me. But I resolved to buy each one in the series in order to expand my mind.
Trov is one of the popular greats from Verdi's middle period. The most famous piece from it is the Anvil Chorus, but 'Di quella pira' is also famous. Verdi wrote it to end on a high A, but convention has it that it ends on a high C - Salvatore Licitra was booed at La Scala for following Riccardo 'Perfectionist' Muti's instructions to sing the A, as per the score. In this performance, it is transposed to finish on a B, which seems silly. Not that I have any objection to transposition - quite the opposite - but it would seem sensible to me, if the High C can't be hit, to go with the A as Verdi intended.
Nobody especially impressed me in this performance. Leonora was played by Eva Marton, famous for having a big voice - and screechy. Pavarotti's opening lines grated on me immediately. He played Manrico exactly as I saw him play La Boh�me's Rudolfo on the TV a few weeks back - Rodolfo as Pav; Manrico as Pav. Stand and bark, I think it's called. Express love for Leonora with a false fixed grin; express anger at his 'mother's' imminent execution by knitting the eyebrows. No interaction or apparent chemistry with the other players. I know Pav has a lot of fans, and technically, his singing is brilliant. It's just that his voice does not push any of the right buttons for me; there are many of his fans who would much prefer to listen than to watch.
A very static and dull Trov, with many flaws. The accompanying booklet calls it a 'lavish cast' (I suspect it might be the ugliest cast ever committed to videotape). However, in talking about Sherrill Milnes the booklet says
This great artist immortalised his version of the complex Verdian character on one of the most wonderful recordings of The Troubadour ever; released in 1970 and conducted by Zubin Mehta (RCA). The exceptional cast included Leontyne Price, Plácido Domingo and Fiorenza Cossotto.In other words, this 1988 Met telecast is being sold because it exists, rather than for any intrinsic merit.
