Is this production worth it? It is, for a young Dolora Zajick, who was already fantastic as Azucena - and she still is nowadays. She's the highlight of the cast.Pavarotti is in great vocal form, and even acts sometimes (he has nice chemistry with his "mother"), although his Di quella pira is not as good as one might expect from someone so famous of his high Cs. Marton at this point in her career is too much of a Turandot or Brünnhilde to be a good Leonora. She doesn't have the flexibility, she skips "Tu vedrai" completely, and barely keeps up in any coloratura-heavy parts.Sherrill Milnes still does a good job, but he was past his prime. A few years earlier, he would have had no rival as Di Luna (as one can see from the excellent recording with Price and Domingo). The production, on the other hand, is a textbook example of how not to stage this opera. The staircase is impractical and dangerous, there is no direction whatsoever so everyone falls into routine, the costumes are more or less period-accurate but incredibly tacky and over-the-top. So much brocade and unnecessary sparkle on everyone. The armours look like something out of a video game. Manrico and Di Luna share the same terrible fashion sense (flowery tabards that look like the fabric was meant for curtains). One can easily tell they're brothers. Also, the red/blue colour coding should be forbidden in this opera. I have watched a lot of different productions and directors just loooove it. For the love of Wotan. Stop.

I love Verdi's operas, along with Puccini he was the composer that introduced me to the wonderful world of opera. Il Trovatore for me is one of his best, while it does have a convoluted but still compelling story that I have often seen described as implausible, the music throughout is magnificent being one of Verdi's most darkest and complex scores, my favourites being the Miserere and Il Balen.This Met production is superb, my only complaint being some of the chorus numbers especially the Anvil Chorus being too dimly lit and perhaps a tad too stolid too. Other than that, it is wonderfully performed and staged in an inspired and efficient manner. I am also receptive to the 1978 production with Placido Domingo as Manrico and Herbert Von Karajan conducting.The production looks just great. The sets and costumes are suitably dark and austere, but I loved the use of contrasting lighting and interesting camera angles. The music is brilliantly performed and sung and conducted with real panache by James Levine. Brian Large does a more than able job directing the production with all the pivotal parts of the opera varying from very good to astounding in its staging.The leads are superb. Luciano Pavarotti is a fine Manrico. Before, I did not think much of him as an actor, finding he stood-there-and-sang, but after seeing him in 1988's La Boheme, 1982's Rigoletto and this I feel I am being rather harsh. On a more positive note, when it comes to his personality, which was always infectious and exciting and his singing, which was always wonderful and unique in the sense you knew it was him immediately, I couldn't fault him at all.Vocally, Sherrill Milnes is not at his peak, see him in 1976's Tosca, 1971's Rigoletto(recording) or his performances of Largo al Factotum, Si Puo, O Carlo Ascolta and Credo in un dio crudel, you'll find he's in better shape in these. But I have always admired Milnes, even after his vocal crisis and vocal and technical imperfections he experienced he still remained an intelligent and gifted performer with a compelling if not always subtle stage presence, and his performance as Count di Luna is no exception. Not just in the spine-tingling trios, but in particular Il Balen where he brilliantly commands the stage and sings a very difficult aria with real musicality, masterly legato, quite intense pianissimos and a ringing top that most baritones and perhaps even tenors would envy. All of which reinforce why he is considered by a number of people including myself, apart from those who love to pick on his tuning and technique which I personally think is unfair and it actually spoils my enjoyment of watching and hearing him sing, as one of the most distinguished Verdi baritones there are. And although it is far from his best, along with his Ernani and his 1985 Verona performance of Si Puo, it is one of his better post-crisis performances vocally for me.Eva Marton does a wonderful job as Leonora. With her at her peak, she comes across as a very dramatically powerful actress and does sing absolutely beautifully. My only slight disappointments in regards to Marton is in the Misere, while acting-wise it is powerful and affecting and her top register riveting, her lower register occasionally lacks that extra support making her little passage before Pavarotti sings on top of her a little under the note, and also she messes up the tempo in places. Still, her chemistry with Pavarotti and Milnes is to be credited, she reacts to them very well as they to her which further adds to the atmosphere.As Azucena, Dolora Zajick while not quite my idea age wise does sing really quite compellingly. I do find her singing better than her acting, her voice is a both beautiful and powerful one put to great dramatic skill, and while she acts much better than in 1989's Aida(more certain and less awkward) she doesn't convince as much as Marton and Milnes do here.The chorus are very fine, and capture the feeling of their numbers with ease. The lighting sometimes does put them to a disadvantage, but they do get on with it and sing and emote professionally.Overall, not superlative but brilliantly done and one of my personal favourites regardless. I can actually forgive moments of stolid acting and lack of support in the singing when as a whole it is done as well as it is here. Bravo! 10/10 Bethany Cox

The Count di Luna orders a Gypsy woman to be burnt at the stake as a witch. Her daughter, seeking revenge, abducts one of his baby sons. She means to throw the baby onto the fire but, absent-mindedly, incinerates her own baby instead. Realising her mistake she brings up the Count's son as her own. When they grow up, the two Count's sons, ignorant of their relationship, are rivals in love for the beautiful Leonora.So far then, it's just like an average episode of the Jerry Springer show. This opera seems to be relatively neglected, compared to other middle-period Verdi, on the grounds of implausibility. I fail to see the problem: anyone who has ever been driven to distraction taking two children around a supermarket can sympathise with the young woman's mistake in grabbing hold of the wrong one. Composed between Rigoletto and La Traviata, this opera contains some of Verdi's best music and the ensembles, in particular, are reminiscent of the operas that immediately precede and follow it.This is a recording of the New York Metropolitan Opera production in 1988. I have listened, for many years, to the live relays from the Met on Saturday evenings but this is the first time, to my knowledge, that these performances have been shown on British television. However, the credits did suggest BBC involvement in the project so it is possible that the BBC broadcast these films many years ago, before I was allowed to watch opera.The Met is in the envious position of being able to afford the world's top stars, at any given time. In this performance Luciano Pavarotti, at the considerable height of his powers, is the Troubadour, Manrico. Eva Marton is Leonora; my experience of her in recent years is as a wonderfully dramatic performer who is somewhat past her best vocally. What a pleasure it is to hear her here at the peak of her career. This illustrious pair is joined by the baritone Sherill Milnes in some spine-tingling trios.This is, literally, a dark production, ably directed for the screen by Brian Large. The brightly-lit solos and ensembles, against a dark background, create a pleasant chiaroscuro effect. However, in some of the choruses, particularly the famous anvil chorus, I felt that the limitations of the stage lighting at a live performance rendered the whole thing a shade too crepuscular.