Barton’s Azucena drags Trovatore from the flames

Roberto Tagliavini (Ferrando) and Jamie Barton (Azucena)

Ludovic Tézier (Conte di Luna)

Roberto Tagliavini (Ferrando)

Il trovatore, Part 2 finale

Marina Rebeka (Leonora) and Gabrielė Kupšytė (Ines)

Riccardo Massi (Manrico) and the Royal Opera Chorus

By Mark Pullinger, 03 June 2023

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“Pappano... powered through Verdi’s red-blooded score with vigour, tempered with velvet”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 2 June 2023

Verdi, Il trovatore

The Royal Opera

Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor

Adele Thomas, Director

Annemarie Woods, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Franck Evin, Lighting Designer

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

Royal Opera Chorus

Ludovic Tézier, Il conte di Luna

Marina Rebeka, Leonora

Jamie Barton, Azucena

Riccardo Massi, Manrico

Roberto Tagliavini, Ferrando

Gabrielė Kupšytė, Ines

Michael Gibson, Ruiz

Emma Woods, Choreography

Two funerals and a bedding at the Linbury Theatre

Eleanor Knight, 1st May

Tales of love and loss as operas by Elena Langer, Charlotte Bray and Elizabeth Maconchy form a varied triple bill in this showcase for The Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Artists.

****1

The Turn of the Screw at RBO Linbury: Darkness and denial

Eleanor Knight, 26th March

Natalie Abrahami’s mesmerising new production of Britten’s ghostly tale of sexual abuse is very dark indeed.

*****

A riveting Rigoletto revival at the Royal Opera House

Dominic Lowe, 25th March

Sir Mark Elder celebrates 50 years at Covent Garden by returning to his first opera there in 1976 – Verdi's Rigoletto – in a revival of Oliver Mears' excellent 2021 production.

****1

Siegfried at the RBO: Kosky and Pappano surprise and delight

David Karlin, 17th March

A revelatory orchestral performance and a cast led by Andreas Schager, Christopher Maltman and Elisabeth Strid make this a Siegfried for the record books.

*****

Terfel’s craggy Boris Godunov returns to Covent Garden

Mark Pullinger, 29th January

The second revival of Richard Jones' staging of Mussorgsky's original 1869 version of Boris Godunov once again stars the Welsh knight.

****1

Ermonela Jaho returns in triumph to The Royal Opera’s Traviata

Mark Valencia, 8th January

Richard Eyre’s 32-year-old production is rarely out of The Royal Opera’s repertoire for more than a few months at a time, but this particular revival proves very special.

*****

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

A Fright at the Opera: Trovatore ridiculed, but Barton’s Azucena drags it from the flames