FROM AROUND THE WORLD: FLORENCE.(Review)

The Maggio Musicale's opening production of Il Trovatore received mediocre reviews in the press and ovations from audiences. Judging by the performance on May 16, the audiences were right. The production was overwhelmingly effective as a whole, because it accepted Verdi's masterpiece on its own terms: as a work of fanatical intensity that can arouse an equally fanatical response in its listeners.

In his Velasquez-inspired production, Pier Luigi Pizzi succeeded in conveying the opera's nocturnal atmosphere without shrouding the singers in darkness and making it impossible to read the characters' emotions on their faces. He used a simple set structure, allowing rapid scene-changes (at the end of the Act I trio, Manrico lay down at the front of the stage, ready for the scene in the Gypsies' camp), and brought singers forward at emotional climaxes, so that they could communicate as directly as possible with the audience. And the cast responded to this challenge magnificently, exploiting to the full every expressive opportunity without a trace of contrivance or inhibition.

Roberto Alagna, singing his first series of Manricos in Italy, gave a singularly stirring performance, creating a genuinely loving human being rather than indulging in the usual tenorial poses. He used dark tone for the role and phrased magnificently, with consistently eloquent diction, solid legato and considerable dynamic variety. He bravely added the traditional top D-flat and Cs in the trio and cabaletta, producing sounds that were secure and effective if not exactly ringing.

Fiorenza Cedolins (Leonora) started the evening with a fairly wide vibrato and impure vowels, but her ease on top and fluid vocalization were immediately apparent. By the time she reached "D'amor sull'ali rosee," the voice was responding perfectly and proved capable of sustaining the long lines with supreme confidence and poetry. Her acting was telling even in the most melodramatic moments.

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