"Il Trovatore" from Trieste Ready to Rival Famous Opera Houses

Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Il Trovatore seems perfectly aligned to the image of Trieste where I had a chance to listen to it on March 6 this year. The medieval mosaics of the Castello and the Cattedrale of San Giusto, along with the ancient ruins of the Roman amphitheater, echo the romantic ideas of eternal love and loyalty found in the poetic prose of Salvatore Cammarano and Leone Bardare, as well as in Verdi’s emotionally charged and passionately expressive lyricism.

It is remarkable that one of Italy’s lesser-known opera houses, though bearing the name of the great composer – Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi – presented such a profound production of Il Trovatore. The audience was largely conservative (around 80 percent of the spectators seemed to be of retirement age), and one can hardly imagine that they would welcome an excessively radical directorial concept. Anyway, the production was notable not for extravagant or complicated staging, but rather for its careful and professional approach to the musical material.

The staging, designed in grey-blue tones with striking flashes of red – seemingly resonating with the burning pain of Azucena’s secret – was minimalist and simple. Rather than relying on nudity or trendy directorial gimmicks – such as shifting the time period or changing the gender of the characters – the production simply trusts the strength of the work itself, something that a lot of contemporary opera directors seem to forget. Too often nowadays they seek merely to shock, astonish, or even provoke disgust, instead of presenting to the audience a masterpiece of world culture – a work that has already survived wars, cholera, and regime changes, and that continues to exist in all its power and beauty even after us.

Louis Désiré’s production is not a parade of dusty historical costumes dragged out of theatrical storage, but a simple and thoughtfully composed staging built on clarity and restraint. It emphasizes the timelessness and placelessness of the storyline, merely hinting that these events happened long ago — and, fortunately, not to us.

The theatre where such stars as Tina Poli Randaccio, Gina Cigna, Ebe Stignani, Chloe Elmo, and Leyla Gencer once triumphed has now invited to its stage several well-known artists as well: Yusif Eyvazov, Daniela Barcellona, Anna Pirozzi, and Youngjun Park.

Particularly high praise should be given to the interpretations of Azucena and Count di Luna. Daniela Barcellona demonstrated excellent command of both the upper register in the aria "Stride la vampa" and the powerful chest voice required in the terrifying scene "Condotta ell’era in ceppi". In the past, the singer appeared mostly in Baroque repertoire, but she has now clearly matured into Verdi’s heroines. Her voice remained even and solid throughout the entire opera. It is surprising that we hear so little about this singer’s performances.

Youngjun Park also distinguished himself with the noble, velvety sound of his strong and remarkably expressive baritone, as well as with excellent pronunciation and clear diction.

Yusif Eyvazov and Anna Pirozzi appeared to be a well-balanced and cohesive duet. While the soprano seemed more convincing in the dramatic and lyrical passages of the opera rather than in the trills of the cabaletta "Tacea la notte placida" where her voice sounded somewhat heavy, one cannot stop admiring her superb command of a wide range of dynamic nuances.

Yusif Eyvazov delivered a particularly successful performance of Manrico’s famous cabaletta "Di quella pira", eagerly anticipated by the audience and rewarded with numerous exclamations of "bravo". The scenes with Azucena, coloured by subtle melancholy and tender lyricism, were also especially memorable.

After witnessing such a successful performance in a theatre that is far from being among Europe’s most famous venues, I found myself curious to explore other smaller theatres in Italy. Perhaps opera is not in decline, as I had previously thought, but instead continues to thrive precisely in those places where so-called Regietheater has not yet fully arrived with its questionable experiments – places where the composer, their score, and the conductor who unlocks its secrets still remain the most important figures in the theatre.

It should also be said that Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi is charming precisely because of its old-fashioned character. Tickets are still punched with a hole punch; it is easy to lose oneself in the network of old boxes, corridors, and stairways; the ushers, dressed in red, gladly take photographs for visitors; and portraits and busts of Verdi can be found at almost every corner of the theatre.

Photo by F.Parenzan, Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi

Text: Julia Pneva