Covent Garden review: Second-cast Trovatore draws few cheers

From Hugh Kerr, editor of Edinburgh Music Review:

Another night at Covent Garden, another disappointment. This time it’s not a good singer indisposed, as in last night’s ‘Werther’, but possibly the worst ‘Trovatore’ production I’ve seen anywhere in the world.

First the design: was it the left over terraces of Barry Kosky’s Carmen, or did they really build their own? You can see everyone wandering up and down behind the terraces from the Upper Slips. Maybe this is a deliberate Brechtian alienation technique, a bit like Barry Kosky’s ‘Carmen’ when she gets up and dusts herself down after being shot! Then there were funny little creatures with horns that kept leaping around the terraces, what did they symbolise?

Then there was the singing. Apart from the women, it was pretty poor. Gregory Kunde was a decent tenor in his prime, but at 69 he made an unconvincing Manrico. Ludovic Tezier as Di Luna was acceptable. The women came out best. First Jamie Barton as Azucena was superb, although it was a shame she was submitted to hours in makeup to make her look ugly. Rachel Willis Sorensen also sang Leonora very nicely. The orchestra under Sir Antonio Pappano were superb, and what a busy conductor Pappano is – last night ‘Werther’, tonight ‘Trovatore’!

No doubt I have failed to understand the intentions of the trio behind ‘Trovatore’, director Adele Thomas, designer Annemarie Woods and choreographer Emma Woods. I’m sure there is a sophisticated interpretation somewhere but as an opera-goer of more than 50 years, this was a production totally lacking in enjoyment.

Hugh Kerr, editor Edinburgh Music Review