Il Trovatore has a plot that sounds as though it has been adapted from the Jerry Springer Show, particularly the absent-minded Gypsy who throws the wrong baby on the fire. It is quite elliptical, you have to work out yourself some of what has happened. The most crucial part of the plot, the burning of the Gypsy and the disappearance of the young boy are related twice, Rashomon-like, first by officer of the guard Ferrando and then by the Gypsy Azucena. Ferrando's racist portrayal of Gypsies bewitching and stealing babies is contradicted in Azucena's account. We see the Gypsies during the famous anvil chorus. They are portrayed as honest, hardworking people who are making utensils to sell in the surrounding villages.
This production boasts a cast that, perhaps, only the Met could afford these days. Marcelo Alvaraz is Manrico and Sondra Radvanovsky is his lover Leonora. Dmitri Hvorostovsky is the evil Count di Luna and Dolora Zajick is Azucena, Manrico's Gypsy stepmother. They are demanding roles involving wide vocal ranges and also extremes of dynamics. Sondra Radvanovsky is a new soprano to me and I loved her big Act I aria and also her Miserere in the final act. Apart from her vocal skills she displays a tremendous vivaciousness. Manrico and di Luna have some rabble-rousing numbers but I also loved the quiet passages, particularly Manrico's final act scene with his stepmother. Dolora Zajick is another revelation with thrilling low notes and a commanding stage presence. It suddenly dawned on me that I had seen her in this role before in the Met's 1988 production opposite Pavarotti. I had a quick look back at my recording of that production and it was clear to me that Zajick's interpretation has matured tremendously over the last 24 years.
I have seen boring productions of Il Trovatore, despite the thrilling music with the plot getting bogged down in lots of scene changes. Director David McVicar avoids this by setting the production on a turntable. Scenery is minimal but effective, the Gypsies' forge in Act I becoming Azucena's cell in the final act. McVicar tells the story very well and turns a thrilling musical piece into an equally enthralling visual drama.