Reviews
Hvorostovsky Triumphs in Met's Trovatore
NEW YORK—It would have been a heartwarming event, no matter how the actual performance was. On Friday night Dmitry Hvorostovsky honored his commitment to sing the Count di Luna in the Metropolitan Opera’s season premiere of Verdi’s Il Trovatore, despite having been diagnosed with a brain tumor in June. Needless to say, the 52-year-old Siberian baritone, singing his 180th Met performance, received a huge ovation before he even sang a note, when the Count first stepped on stage, alone, to sing of his fervent but unrequited love for the beautiful Leonora. [The New York Times reports the ovation was “loud and long enough that he broke character to smile and pat his heart in appreciation.”]
It was a moment that made one glad to be in the house, and fortunately the revival of David McVicar’s production was remarkable in several other respects as well. One hoped for, and was rewarded with, a performance by Hvorostovsky that found him in top form and appeared not at all compromised by his illness. His plush baritone sounded notably robust, and his ability to spin out long phrases in a single breath, as always, commanded attention. His singing of the aria “Il balen del suo sorriso” was heartfelt and generous in tone. And visually he was a dashing figure. He will sing two more performances, on Sept. 29 and Oct. 3, but has cancelled three more in October to return to London for ongoing treatment.
He was paired with the ravishing Leonora of Anna Netrebko, whose portrayal of the Spanish noblewoman has been honed to perfection during the last two Salzburg Festivals. Here, in her first Met performance of the role, she sang with utter confidence, as was apparent from the almost blissful way she tossed off the trills, staccato, and filigree of her first cabaletta, “Di tale amor, che dirsi.” In the demanding first scene of Act IV, in which Leonora is onstage throughout, Netrebko sang with unfailing beauty of tone, floating some lovely high notes in “D’amor sull’ali rosee” and winding up the scene with her compatriot, Hvorostovsky, in a sizzling account of the Leonora-di Luna duet.
To Manrico, Yonghoon Lee brought a heroic tenor voice that rang out impressively in the troubadour’s big moments. He also had some nice ideas about phrasing, although he showed a tendency to punch out individual notes rather than sing with line. He demonstrated more than enough stamina for “Di quella pira” and since he sang only one verse, it seemed unnecessary for him to drop out during the entire coda, as he geared up for the final (unwritten) high note.
The redoubtable Dolora Zajick sang Azucena, the role of her Met debut 27 years ago. She remains as commanding as ever, but she also offered some touching singing in the final scene, when Azucena dreams of returning to the mountains with Manrico; like Hvorostovsky, Zajick sang in the production’s 2009 premiere. Štefan Kocán indulged in some vocal posturing as Ferrando, but Maria Zifchak made Ines’s lines tell.
The production continues to work well for a standard repertoire work, offering something distinctive with its Goya-like images yet nothing so idiosyncratic as to become wearisome on repeated viewings. It also features some of the loudest anvils you’re apt to hear in this opera. Laced through the action is a fair amount of violence, which during the Convent Scene threatens to end the opera prematurely when it looks as though Manrico has slit the Count’s throat. The mysterious force that prevents Manrico from slaying his (unbeknownst to him) brother in their earlier duel manages to stay his hand again.
It is unfortunate that the revival lacks a conductor on a par with those whom Netrebko worked with in Salzburg—Daniele Gatti and Gianandrea Noseda. Marco Armiliato’s well-routined reading failed to probe the dark currents of the score and was short on dramatic momentum. Armiliato also reinstituted several traditional cuts that were opened at the production’s last outing three years ago, a lamentable regression. However, the sometimes cut Act IV cabaletta, “Tu vedrai che amore in terra,” was sung by Netrebko in all its glory, and bless her for that.
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