Verdi: Il trovatore ****
Opéra Bastille, 31st January 2016
According to legendary tenor Enrico Caruso, the recipe for success in Il trovatore is disarmingly simple: “All it takes is the four greatest singers in the world.” An impossible task, perhaps, but we skirted pretty close at the Opéra Bastille last night where a remarkable cast assembled for the Paris première of Àlex Ollé’s curious new La Fura del Baus staging. Musically, Verdi’s opera requires a “blood and thunder” approach and – on the evidence of this performance – three of the four main singers truly delivered to deserve Caruso’s “world-beating” accolade.
Anna Netrebko (Leonora)
© Charles Duprat | Opéra National de Paris