VERDI: Trovatore (Il) (Sydney Opera, 1983) (PAL)

Il Trovatore (Der Troubadour)

An Opera in Three Parts / Sung in Italian
Libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, completed by Leone Emanuele Bardare
From the Sydney Opera House 1983
The Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra, The Australian Opera Chorus, Conducter: Richard Bonynge, Directed by Elijah Moshinsky
Cast: Joan Sutherland, Lauris Elms, Kenneth Collins, Donald Shanks, Jonathan Summers,
Cynthia Johnston, Robin Donald

Running Time: 142 min
Recording Date: 1983
Menu languages: GB, D, F, SP
Subtitle languages: I, GB, D, F, SP
Picture Format: 4:3
Sound Format: PCM Stereo
Region Code: 2, 5
Sel. No. 100 276 PAL

Joan Sutherland was at the height of her career when she took on the role of Leonora - arguably the most dramatic of all Verdi heroines - in 1983. Elijah Moshinsky's production, in which he was ably supported by the Australian artist Sidney Nolans (set design), Luciana Arrighi (costumes) and Nick Chelton (lighting), was tailor-made for Sutherland, allowing Leonora to develop into a truly tragic heroine occupying the opera's central ground. This performance at the Australian Opera, Sydney - and featuring a high quality cast under the baton of Richard Bonynge - was recorded by Australian Television on 2nd July 1983.

Verdi's powerful and passionate opera tells a tale of civil war and treachery. A nation and a family are torn apart as two men - adversaries in love and war - are driven to betrayal and murder by desire for the same woman. And a gypsy, bent on revenge holds the secret of the ties that binds these mortal enemies

Dame Joan Sutherland's brilliant portrayal of Leonora, is set off magnificently by the performance of Kenneth Collins as the troubador Manrico and Jonathan Summers as the Count di Luna - the two men who love her. The striking simplicity of Elijah Moshinsky's production is enhanced by riotously colourful backdrops; the work of the eminent Australian artist, the late Sidney Nolan. Richard Bonynge conducts a performance which richly confirms the opera's reputation as one of Verdi's most fiery works.