Verdi's superb music and the professionalism of the cast triumph over absurdities of staging in the Opera South production of Il Trovatore. A wonderfully supportive orchestra conducted by Robert Dean and led by Adrian Petcu is the other saving grace of a presentation which lurches from the sublime to the ridiculous and - mercifully - back again.
A youthful Azucena from Yvonne Howard deserves all the superlatives available for technique, sense of drama and exquisite modulation of tone and thought. The vengeful Count is given by Keith Latham in terrific voice; both these singers handle the extravagances of the plot with a discretion which allows real pathos, a quality also achieved by Tracy Saliefendic's Leonora who spends a lot of her time on the floor, where she has been flung by one or other of her suitors. She also has to contend with unsympathetic costuming.
For the purposes of the incoherent directorial style adopted by Olivia Fuchs, the troubador Manrico (Maurizio Saltarin) is Leonora's bit of rough; he sings with fullthroated gallantry through a resistant throat before rushing off to defend his mother with a cardboard rifle. One such prop is of course just silly; when the entire chorus departs brandishing toy guns, the effect is ludicrous.
Both male and female chorus are vocally well-drilled (by Cathal Garvey), and achieve the essential profundity of the score in defiance of Sarah Ashpole's bewildering design.
Il Trovatore is at the Opera House tomorrow and Monday. Booking on 021 270022
