Back to the casting…I’ve now auditioned several singers, some more than once, and come up with the following cast-sheet:
Manrico – Placido Domingo
Leonora – Renata Tebaldi
Conte di Luna – Ettore Bastianini
Azucena – Agnes Baltsa
Ferrando – Evgeny Nesterenko
La Scala Orchestra conducted by Tullio Serafin
Here are a few thoughts on how I came up with the above!
Ferrando – Tozzi, Nesterenko and D’Arcangelo are, for me, the best story-tellers here, really painting the horror of the tale, although the latter sounds a little too young, at present, to have been the Count’s old retainer, so I’ve gone with the Russian.
Azucena – I’m not actually a huge fan of the voices of Barbieri or Simionato (ducks for cover!) Barbieri’s voice sounds rather worn by the time of her EMI/Karajan recording of 1957, although there is a supposedly ‘live’ one from RAI on Arkadia from the same year in which she is helped by faster tempi under conductor Fernando Prevatali. Fiorenza Cossotto’s interpretation is outstanding, but those who have heard only her RCA/Mehta account really should try and hear the DG/Serafin version; in the RCA, she ‘veils’/’covers’ her voice somewhat (probably due to Mehta’s tempi/ lack of thrust) whereas for DG she’s in fresher voice, with thrilling top notes which pin you to the back of your chair!
I would like to hear Shirley Verrett in the role; she did record it ‘as a special favour’ to Pavarotti in the 90s when, by all accounts, she was past her best (and some reviews suggest she should have declined the offer). Another Azucena I’d have liked to hear is that of Agnes Baltsa. She was one of the few singers to refuse Karajan, who offered the role at Salzburg, but she declined. I believe she sang it later in her career. She recorded the Part II scene/duet with José Carreras as Manrico which offers a tantalising glimpse of what her Azucena would have been like and, on that basis plus her thrilling Eboli and Amneris, she’s my ‘left-field’ choice for Manrico’s mum!
There are some interesting thoughts here from Baltsa in an interview from 2003:
http://www.greekembassy.org/embassy/Content/en/Article.aspx?office=3&folder=418&article=12198 Di Luna – An easy choice for me – if anyone has recorded the role better than Ettore Bastianini, then I’d like to hear him! ‘A voice of bronze and velvet’ is the subtitle of a biography and I’d concur with that. It’s important for di Luna to be presented not as a monster, but a nobleman madly in love with Leonora. His thirst for revenge against Azucena is entirely understandable and he is surely the real tragic figure in this opera – thwarted at every turn (the duel, the convent, the prison) and even has his brief moment of triumph at the end snatched away from him at the end. Giorgio Zancanaro does a very good job for Giulini – his is not an immediately attractive voice (it can be a bit gritty) but he uses his voice with intelligence. Sherill Milnes was a very good Verdian baritone – nice legato and sense of line, but I find there’s nothing particularly distinctive about his di Luna, it being identical to his other Verdi roles. Thomas Hampson is the di Luna for Pappano on EMI and I find it a mannered portrayal. There have been times when I’ve liked some of his Verdi portrayals – Ford, Macbeth – but on the whole, and I realise I risk Operacat’s wrath here, I don’t think he’s a Verdi baritone. I don’t especially like Rolando Panerai’s voice. On stage, Hvorostovsky is the best di Luna I have seen (his account is on DVD from the ROH) and I’d happily have him cover the role!
Manrico – I think this is more a case of what you want from a Manrico – thrills and spills à la Mario del Monaco or Franco Corelli, or elegance and grace from the likes of Carlo Bergonzi or, from the little I’ve heard, Jussi Bjoerling. (I’ve ordered the Cellini set on Naxos, btw). It’s been said that in Traviata, you need three different Violettas, one for each act; well, I wonder if I could have two Manricos – one to sing
Ah si ben mio, and another to sing
Di quella pira?! In the end, I’ve gone for Domingo as a compromise candidate – there’s plenty of power there, when needed, but also the elegant phrasing of
Ah si, ben mio.
Leonora – I think we’re a little spoilt for choice here. Leontyne Price, cast by a few posters here, has a regal bearing and is alert to the drama. I think Angela Gheorghiu has a very fine voice for Verdi roles, although she is heard to better effect on her Verdi Arias disc conducted by Chailly rather than the Pappano set. Antonietta Stella shouldn’t be discounted – in any other era, without Callas, Tebaldi, Milanov, Scotto, Price etc, her career would surely have had a higher profile. Rosalind Plowright was another excellent Leonora and I look forward to hearing Zinka Milanov. Callas? Possibly. In the end though, for her aristocratic bearing, wonderful phrasing and her gorgeous, creamy tone, I’d want to cast Renata Tebaldi in the role.
Conductor – I like Swan_Knight’s suggestion that Lamberto Gardelli would be very fine in this. I’d certainly want an Italian conductor and orchestra, although I do find Carlo Maria Giulini's account frustratingly laboured. I haven’t heard Muti, who I’d imagine would drive the music forward well, and ernani’s suggestion of Abbado would also be in the running. Ultimately, I’d want that wily old fox Tullio Serafin, who gives the DG recording plenty of blood and thunder, which Trovatore needs.
Feel free to disagree. I think favourite singers/ voices are a very personal, subjective topic and it’s good to have one’s preferences challenged. Who knows, in a month’s time I could come up with a different cast entirely!
