Customer Reviews

Verdi - Il Trovatore / Levine, Milnes, Marton, Pavarotti, Metropolitan Opera

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This Il Trovatore is with Sherril Milnes, Eva Marton, Dolora Zajjick, Luciano Pavarotti, conducted by James Levine at the Met in 1988 on the Deutsche Grammophon label. Dolora Zajjick is riveting as the gypsy mother and Pavarotti's rendition of Di quella Pira blows recent recordings by other current tenors to smithereens.

Deutsche Grammophon's audio and video quality is superb--if only all the opera DVD's were this good I'd be in opera heaven. The DVD releases by DG also come with very good printed documentation.

Highly recommended.

It breaks my heart to admit that I agree with the vast majority of the reviewers. Perfect sound, why wasn't this the case with the recently released Ballo? But not a very well served document of Verdi's wonderful emotive opera.

OK, the production is dreadful - what were the Met thinking of? It's like a production I would expect to see at the ENO in London. Where they short of money that season, or did someone just want to get a kick out of watching perfomers attempt to navigate the set without falling over!! Eva Marton is totally mis-cast as Leonora; it grieves me to say this because I adore her and have screamed myself hoarse at her perfomances of Turandot, Tosca and Elektra at Covent Garden - but here, oh dear.

Pavarotti sings wonderfully, as one would expect, but he seems totally oblivious to anyone else on stage - is it because he's worried that he might fall on those unnecessary stairs? Sherrill Milnes makes a good job as the Count de Luna and Dolora Zajick is just wonderful as Azucena - buy it just to see and hear this exemplary performance. What a superstar she is - even being able to make a moving performance in this shambles of a production.

Well, what else can I say? One fabulously fantastic performance, two reasonable ones and a dreadfully miscast soprano. What a mish mash and shambles of one of Verdi's greatest music dramas. Please someone, find the master tapes of Pavarotti as the Troubador in Florence in 1990 - or in Saltzberg.

I cannot honestly recommend this to you as great music drama - but there are somethings to commend it too - especially Dolora Zajik.

So there, I sit on the fence!! Sorry.

Though this 1988 Metropolitan Opera performance is far from perfect, it still has a lot to offer the viewer/listener. One of the drawbacks is that Il Trovatore is a "night" opera, where all the drama seems to happen from dusk to dawn; this production takes it literally, and it is very dimly lit. It is saved by its beautiful silvery costumes, which reflect the minimal lighting, so at least you can see where the people are in the midst of the black stage.

The cast:
Luciano Pavarotti is in fine fettle, with a virile, powerful interpretation of the glorious "Ah ! si, ben mio coll'essere", and a bit better than usual acting performances.
Sherrill Milnes is vocally past his prime here, but is a great stage presence, and does an excellent, villainous Conte di Luna; aptly named, because the moonlight becomes him...he looks fabulous.
Eva Marton seems at first uncomfortable in the sweet young maiden part of Leonora, but does get better with every scene; she is really good in the last act, and I always like her singing.
Dolora Zajick's Azucena is superb. A truly magnificent voice, and does well as an actress too.
Jeffrey Wells is wonderful, and makes an effective and attractive Ferrando.
James Levine keeps it all together with enthusiasm, and the sound is terrific.

A lovely touch is the paper raining down on Pavarotti at the final curtain call from an appreciative audience, and there is much to appreciate in this performance of one of Verdi's most melodic, dramatic operas. Total running time is 133 minutes.

I have to say that Il Trovatore is one of my favourite Verdi Opera's, with a great mix of drama and suspense, twinned with the most unlikely of story lines! There are ample opportunities for the musicians and artists to shine, and some did in this production!

In particular, Dolora Zajick, much the best actor on the stage, gave a passionate and inspired performance as Azucena. She has a wonderfully resilient voice, and carried the role off superbly. I also enjoyed Sherrill Milnes' performance as the "evil" Count Luna. Milnes wouldn't be out of place as the baddy in one of those silent films twiddling his moustach! I found his powerful Baritone extremely convincing.

Pavarotti's voice is as agreeable as ever, but as usual his acting lets the overall performance down. He spends most of his time rooted to the spot with a perplexed look on his face! Mind you, I suppose if you've escaped death by fire at the hands of your mad gypsy mother at the age of 1, you'd look worried too!

Jeffrey Wells got better as he warmed up, but Eva Marton seemed totally out of place here with her "the louder you sing the better" approach. She was decidly flat in places, and didn't even attempt to sing some of the high notes, most noticeably at the end of act 1! The D'amour sull'ali rosee in scene 1 of act 4 is one of the most lovely solo's written by Verdi, however I'm afraid it was somewhat "brutalised" by Eva here, more subtley needed!

The sets were quite atmospheric, although everything obviously happened at night as it was so dark throughout! The Met orchestra were well controlled as usual by James Levine, although it was difficult to hear the singers at times - you often find this with some of Verdi's more dramtic moments!

I agree with one of the other reviewers that the choice of Eva Marton for Leonora wasn't the best. You notice right away in her first cabaletta, which is pretty bad. The first act trio, though, rocks the hiz-ouse. Sherill Milnes demonstrates much vocal bad-assery. "Il balen" is great. Pavarotti is okay too. Warning, though: This performance has cuts and transpostions. The cabalettas don't have repeats, and Di quella pira is transposed down a half step. So if you're looking for the high C, look elsewhere.

The best things in this DVD are the superb singing of Milnes and Zajick, a very good performance of Metropolitan Chorus, and the conducting of Levine. Pavarotti sings well too, but he isn't a good actor here (in Rigoletto's DVD he is excellent as the Duca). Marton is the weak point of the production: too old for a plausible Leonora, and sometimes she doesn't sings in the right tempi. The scenario is very poor and dark (great scenarios you'll find in Metropolitan's Aida: incredible!).
However,is a worthy buy... especially for Verdi's fans. But we are all better served in productions of Rigoletto (Pavarotti, Gruberova, Wixell, Chailly) and Traviata (Gheorghiu, Lopardo, Nucci, Solti). Let's wait for a almost perfect Trovatore in the future.

This is indeed a great version of "Il Trovatore." Everything is incredible. Luciano Pavarotti, though fairly old when he made this opera, he sang Manrico in a way only he is capable of. Eva Marton, unfortunately, was fairly old and looked very old as Leonora, however her astounding voice makes up for it. Her, "Di tale amor" is simply incredible!! Dolora Zajick makes a great Azucena, and her "Stride la vampa" makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up whenever I hear it- especially when she sings the great part where she hits a high G. As for Sherrill Milnes as the Count- he's always my favorite villain. He blows me over in many scenes. The costumes are extremely fancy and 15th century-like; very authentic. The sets are great, and the choruses are the strrongest I've ever heard. All in all, I would suggest this video, even if you are new to this opera, because (as it has subtitles) you will love it.

Oh, one more thing! Jeffrey Wells is a fabulous Ferrando, he has a very commanding tone and doesen't sound boring or weak like so many Ferrandos do.

With a list of singers that includes Pavarotti, Milnes, and Marton, you'd expect a "production of the century."

Pavarotti's voice is in its prime--it will dazzle you with its richness. The costumes are as lavish and appropriate as Pavarotti's superb voice.

Despite negative remarks by some reviewers, Sherrill Milnes puts forth a fine singing performance with even better acting and tremendous stage presence.

Yes, we all know that we are supposed to exercise our "suspension of disbelief," but Eva Marton is simply too large and old to portray the young Leonora that these gentlemen are fighting over. Dolora Zajick is scary and witchlike, which is exactly right for the gypsy woman.

So, why isn't this the dvd performance of the century?

One: The stage is constantly too dark. Really, it's hard to tell when there has been a change of the set, as it's simply too dark to tell the difference.

Two: Leonora is miscast with Eva Maron. Not criticising Eva--she's very good in other roles she has sung. She's just not right for Leonora.

Three: Too many cuts have been made, making it harder to follow the storyline because of minor but abrupt gaps in the action.

It's still an enjoyable production, but it could easily have been much better.

The singing is really excellent by wellknown and number one singers, which give us enjoyment in listening from beginning to the end of the performance. Also the choir is so splendid and add to the perfection of the music itself. However, the appearances of the singers are rather unsuitable for the roles they personify, as their appearances seemed rather heavy set for such young heroes in love and in war. Nevertheless, we enjoy the whole performance of this opera especially the background scenery which describe the sinister circumstances of the tragedy told by the soldier and Gypsy and the state of the warring parties. Pavarotti is as always singing beautifully, however I have seen him in another opera in which he performed better and more brilliantly. Eva Marton as Leonora is disappointingly rather unsuitable for the role she personifies, it is not the face that matters, as she is beautiful enough, but her matronly appearance made the personification rather amusing as the young and beautiful Leonora. Her singing is so excellent that we can forgive the rather unsuitable appearance and just concentrate on listening to her singing and the music. The other singers, Sheril Milnes and Dolora Zajick were so splendid and made the performance more alive, so we are able to forget the rather unsuitable appearances.

I just love this video. I often play it as an audio recording. Pavarotti is great nothwithstanding his acting abilities. His singing is the tops. Marton has a big pretty voice of course, but she is a bit miscast here, as she just doesn't quite have the agility for Leonora. I would still call her performance quite acceptable. Zajick is great. Her singing and acting are absolutely riveting. Milnes is great - the voice seems to have started it's downturn at this point - a bit of struggling in the passagio, but it's not too noticeable. He still produces some absolutely gorgeoues tones - a beautiful and touching voice, in my opinion.