La Battaglia Di Legnano is one of those operas that is not one of its composer's finest hours but deserves to be performed more. With the two DVD productions available as of now, the 2002 production with Nello Santi conducting and this one from Parma, neither disgrace the opera but both in their own ways fall short. Of the two, the Santi production perhaps is slightly superior. With this Parma production, the biggest let-down is the stage direction. Non-traditional staging is not a problem, but it needs to be engaging. This production felt very under-directed, much of it is static with aimless gestures and milling around while the direction of the chorus is chaotic. If some kind of point was trying to be mind, it was completely lost. The costumes and sets are not ugly so to speak but there wasn't that much interesting either, there was some bareness and too many instances of the lighting being too dark. And Dimitra Theodossiou's performance came across as uneven. She sings intelligently and musically, is a good actress and starts off very well, but she sounds taxed in her two arias and much of the production sees her in rather fatigued voice. However, the orchestral playing is rousing, stylish and really beautiful to listen to. The chorus seemed very under-rehearsed and disorganised dramatically but their singing is good. The conducting is incisive, sympathetic to the singers and does make an effort to let the drama speak within the music. Most of the performances are fine, the standout was the strongly sung and sensitive Rolando of Leonardo Lopez Linares. Andrew Richards should have a good career ahead of him, a beautiful heroic tenor voice with a nice baritonal warmth, his acting doesn't quite match being rather stand-and-deliver but the staging doesn't help him. Barbarosa's role is small, but Enrico Iori is still memorable in it, with a sturdy voice and vigorous stage presence, one of the better actors in the cast. The production is well-photographed and the sound and picture are good. In conclusion, well-performed but dull and under-directed. 6/10 Bethany Cox
