Il Trovatore by Verdi: "Word to the Met: "Please Toss The Set"

Leonora - Sondra Radvanovsky
The Count di Luna - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Manrico - Marcelo Álvarez
Azucena - Dolora Zajick

After waiting all year I finally got to see my dream team in Il Trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera at the April 30, 2011 Metropolitan Opera Live Radio Broadcast. Il Trovatore, one of my all time favorite operas, has been a staple in the operatic repertoire for centuries and the plot stands the test of time. Basic Plot. A gypsy (Azucena's mother) is a wet nurse to her baby and the Counts baby. A servant saw her looking at the Counts baby the wrong way and a death suit was filed against her for putting a spell on the baby. She flees with both babies and throws one baby in a fire..the wrong baby...her own baby..and is burned at the stake. Azucena, watches her mother scream and burn to death and flees to the mountains with the baby (Manrico). She raises the baby as her son. As he is growing up she intermittently tells him the story of her mother, indicating he is not her real son, which he can never figure out. The son grows up and falls in love with Leonora, a lady of the court who is betrothed to Count di Luna, Manrico's unknown full blood brother. The men become rivals for Leonora. Leonora loves Manrico but poisons herself and dies in a bid for di Luna to release Manrico from prison. Di Luna kills Manrico in a duel upon his release. At Manrico's death Azucena screams and laughs at di Luna saying "you just killed your own brother; my mother's vengence is finally achieved." So you see, the drama and the singing go hand in hand. This is just one of the great dramatic masterpieces by Guiseppe Verdi.

The dream tream was not quite the dream I had dreamt about. The soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, who played Leonora, had a fast vibrato and sang around the pitch. Her pianissimi begins as a forte then she scales it down to pianissimo. After hearing this several times it immediately became boring and cliche. Leonora is one of the most difficult of the Verdi operas. It requires a spinto soprano, which is one that has weight and agility going on at the same time. The first aria is the cavatina/cabaletta "Tacea la notte placida" and "Di tale amore." The second aria is the famous cavatina "D'amor sull'ali rosee" which is followed by solo and chorus the "Miserere." This role is no piece of cake for a soprano who is required to sing through all four acts. So I give Miss Radvanovsky a high mark for accomplishing the challenge of Verdi and for her legacy of continuing this great music and this pinnacle role in the soprano repertory. She is one of the leading "Verdi soprano's" at the Metropolitan Opera right now. She also sang Tosca this sseason which I tried my best to enjoy as much as I could.

Marcelo Álvarez, as Manrico, belted and hammered out notes as if he had a bad case of bronchitis. Where did the beautiful lyricism go? I had heard him a few years ago in Il tabarro/Pagliaci, and I said the same thing. Hard rough singing.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky was the dream in the team. He sounded like heaven. I thought I had died and gone to heaven during the aria "Il balen." The rich creamy baritone has set a new bar for singing The Count di Luna. The House was as quiet as a mouse when he sang. A real dream come true. It was my first time hearing him in person and he did not disappoint. He has a lovely sound a beautiful baritone and a beautiful line. Exquisite vocalism indeed!

The mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick was also an absolute fulfillment of the role of Azucena. Her beautiful golden bronze instrument never fails to please the senses of the masses. The lovely Diva can do no wrong nor sing a false note. Her technique is perfection. She is somewhere in between a beautiful lyrical Marilyn Horne and a dark dramatic Christa Ludwig combined. Brava.

The set, which was modern, was a big gigantic 3/4 rotating set which sometimes singers' costumes got caught in the turn gap. Again, just like last year, a long flight of stairs was in the center stage where singers' entrance was to run down a culmination of three flights of stairs to the stage before singing on whatever breath they had left, and sometimes tripped...a real bad idea. Dont these directors have any sympathy for singers? I also wondered why the Met put together all this great dream team from all over the world on a set which put them at such peril, and had no description of the composers intent. If this was Peter Gelb's idea I say "please put the classic set back."

The saving grace once again and continues to be for this administration, was the Anvil Chorus sang by the Metropolitan Opera Chorus who used real percussion instruments and hammers on stage playing the score in concert with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra: a beautiful treat that made you cry and I applauded the show.