Filmed live in Berlin, Gaston Rivero, Anna Netrebko and Plácido Domingo star in one of Verdi's greatest operas, under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, Il Trovatore is without question one of Verdi's most dramatic masterpieces - as well as one of his most melodic and including the irresistible 'Anvil Chorus' and the tenor showstopper arias triumphing in a uniquely demanding role for a Verdi soprano and Anna Netrebko sings wonderfully: creamy tone, excellent expression allied to create a wholly integrated performance. Marina Prudenskaya was the only singer who had been in the Vienna cast. Her beautiful, smooth, even tone, ideal legato and capacity for vocal expression brought back memories of those halcyon years when Verdi mezzos of this quality were more common. No crude chest notes, just excellent singing in both of Azucena's arias. Matching her for vocal elegance and smoothness was Adrian Sampetrean as Ferrando. He and his retainers appear dressed as puritans of the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries on their way to pray. Top hats, smart black clothes and ruffs around their necks. The costumes are a mi-sh-mash of indeterminate period and style. Plácido Domingo, once the most- sought-after Manrico of his generation, stars for the first time as Conte DI Luna, radiating the Domingo warmth of past times with his magical stage presence that ennobles every evening of opera. Uruguayan Tenor Gaston Rivero as Manrico arrives looking almost exactly like Edward Scissorhands minus the shears and it's equal parts charming and sad. It's not that he's a full head shorter than Ms. Netrebko that's bothersome because he isn't only half a head and she knows how to do the famed "Soprano Slouch." He is, however, a full head shorter than Mr. Domingo and also a few decades younger and the plot, if you're familiar with it... well, never mind. It looks like in subsequent performances his costume and makeup were considerably butch-ed up to much greater effect. In the meanwhile he does arrive with a lute strapped to his back so someone, somewhere, is paying attention. Much is made in the liner notes about Mr. Rivero's "bright" sound in contrast to Mr. Domingo as left-handed apology for his having to share the stage with the operatic Zeus. Surely the last place on earth any tenor would like to be singing Manrico would be right in front of one of its former foremost exponents. In the wedding scene that follows Mr. Rivero gives us a heartfelt performance no playing around with the pitches. Bravo. Ms. Netrebko enters. like all good divas after the interval, in the identical black and white costume only with the colors reversed. She's completely in the groove during "D'amor," an absolutely stunning interpretation although I wouldn't advise following along with a score and a metronome. She's very free with the music and even seems to take Barenboim by surprise once or twice. She polishes off the "Miserere" with no trouble and then gives us but a single verse of "Tu Verdi," but I forgive her. Meanwhile the director has been altering the time-line of events, oh so slightly, and it does add a little extra suspense to the proceedings. She and Domingo make short work of the duet and my only quibble with the final scene is that they actually have to alter the text at a climactic moment to accommodate the staging. If only for Ms. Netrebko's performance this would rate at least a 6 and in-spite of her co-stars being either too short or too long in the tooth the production is very evocative and never boring so I raise it up to an 8. Under Daniel Barenboim, conducting Il Trovatore for the first time, the Staatskapelle orchestra performs with energy and drive.
Director Philipp Stölzl has made many video clips and feature films. He is particularly well known for his work with the German rock group Rammstein and the American pop icon Madonna. He makes no attempt to link the disparate parts of Verdi's story, but moves between the constantly shifting scenes using a very basic box-shaped set with two sides. There are few stage props. A fired rifle and cannon for the attack on Castillo being exceptions. With imaginative lighting this is one of the few effective incidents. A large part of the staging involves surrealist paintings being projected onto the walls and trap doors in the floor for entrances and exits. Picture was excellent on my DVD screener and 5.1 digital sound is superb. Deutsche Grammophon has finally gotten the news that the world is coming to an end and has opted for very nice, tr-fold, Eco- friendly, cardboard packaging. It's all very colorful, as befits this spectacle, blasted all over the inside cover."
