Anna Netrebko’s ascent to greatness: Il Trovatore at the Met reviewed

The Met in HD series got off to an exciting start this year with Il Trovatore, an opera I adore but have never seen a satisfactory performance of, until this one. The production by Sir David McVicar is in his now traditional style, with a reasonable number of very solid-looking props designed by Charles Edwards, and more or less time-honoured operatic acting, but done with intensity and conviction, so that this hardened team of Verdi experts were able to give their all, and obliged by doing so. The result, to my surprise, was that I not only enjoyed this uniquely energising work, but for the first time was moved by it. This despite the Met audience’s evident desire to turn it into a costume concert by protracted applause after almost every solo.

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Of the impressive soloists one has to single out Anna Netrebko.