VIDEO PODCAST: Slava Ukraini! - recorded on 24 February 2022, the day the world woke up to the news that Vladimir Putin's Russian forces had invaded Ukraine. A fifty minute video which also features Caitríona O'Leary and Eric Fraad discussing their new film Island of Saints, and pays tribute to Joseph Horovitz, Malcolm Troup and Maria Nockin.
PROVOCATIVE THOUGHTS:
The late Patric Standford may have written these short pieces deliberately to provoke our feedback. If so, his success is reflected in the rich range of readers' comments appearing at the foot of most of the pages.
Il Trovatore is a four-act opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto is by Salvatore Cammarano with contributions (after Cammarano's death) from Leone Emanuele Badare, based on El trovador (1836), the most successful play by Spanish Romantic dramatist Antonio García Gutiérrez (1813-1884).
Verdi's opera was first performed on 19 January 1853 at the Teatro Apollo in Rome, was immediately successful, receiving over two hundred performances worldwide during the following three years, and has become standard repertoire.
Verdi also produced a French version, known as Le trouvère, using a translation of the libretto by Émilien Pacini, and this was first performed at La Monnaie in Brussels on 20 May 1856.
Ensemble. Abstract and Utterly Stylized - Giuseppe Pennisi experiences 'Le Trouvère', the last operatic staging in Parma's Teatro Farnese
Ensemble. Pure Joy - Roderic Dunnett visits Winslow Hall Opera for Verdi's 'Il Trovatore'
Ensemble. A Dark 'Trovatore' - Giuseppe Pennisi reports on Verdi from Cagliari
Ensemble. Close to Perfection - 'Il Trovatore' live in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera, enjoyed by Maria Nockin
Ensemble. A Bold Decision - 'Il Trovatore' in Naples, reviewed by Giuseppe Pennisi
Ensemble. Vocal Passion - Maria Nockin makes a virtual visit to Covent Garden for Verdi's 'Macbeth'
Ensemble. Very Credible - Verdi's 'Il Trovatore' from New York Metropolitan Opera in HD, reviewed by Maria Nockin
Ensemble. An Icy Reception - Giuseppe Pennisi describes the 2010 Parma Verdi Festival's stormy beginning
Ensemble. Terrific Pace and Direction - Verdi's 'Luisa Miller' at the Buxton Festival, recommended by Mike Wheeler
Ensemble. A Thrilling New Option - 'Il Trovatore' from Barcelona, experienced in Arizona by Maria Nockin
A Real Find - Robert Davies made a remarkable impact when he stood in as Papageno late in the run of English Touring Opera's 'The Magic Flute'; Roderic Dunnett profiles him and celebrates the progress of other ETO cast members
Ensemble. A Masterly Account - Donizetti's 'Parisina d'Este', heard by Robert Hugill
A Very Expressive Voice - Tess Crebbin talks to the tenor Zoran Todorovich
Ensemble. An Imaginative Production - 'Il Trovatore' in San Diego, reviewed by Maria Nockin
DVD Spotlight. Hothouse passions - Karajan's 'Il Trovatore', reviewed by Robert Anderson. '... wonderfully and indeed relentlessly captured ...'