Grand digital designs bring added edge to Verdi’s towering tale of tragedy

Verdi’s towering drama Il Trovatore gets a digital makeover in a cracking good show at the Opera House.

Spectacular digitial backdrops are an exciting part of Opera Australia’s new production of Verdi’s Il Trovatore. Picture: Keith Saunders

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For a few moments, let’s take the quality of the singing and the standard of the overall production as excellent and put that aside for later; instead let us focus on the set, because the magic achieved here will increasingly be seen in other performances around the world, from opera to rock concerts.

Digital influence on live opera isn’t new. Many productions, including those of Opera Australia, have used clips and images as backdrops to reflect the dynamics of the plot being enacted on stage.

What makes this towering production of Verdi’s tangled tale of jealousy, love and tragedy different is the extent to which the digital process is now much smarter, more effective and a more dominating influence.

In doing so, the set designers and their digital partners tread a risky path; too much of a distraction and the show loses dramatic impact, too little and the hours of effort are wasted.

So what do we actually have here? A series of large, vertical panels hang from the ceiling, each capable of moving independently or in unison, displaying single images or parts of a composite whole, with, say, flames of a burning building rippling from screen to screen, then changing to the dank walls of a prison cell, or an array of stars twinkling above.

This is a huge step away from the traditional approach of static, painted backgrounds and the

Leah Crocetto as Leonora and Maxim Aniskin as Count di Luna in Opera Australia’s production of Il Trovatore. Pictures: Keith Saunders

props, often wheeled impedimenta of illusion, being shuffled from one side of the stage to t’other.

The set design is credited to Gio Forma, a studio whose designers, artists and architects create staging for events like opera, but their techniques could apply to almost any form of show.

For the actual digital content, an innovative company called D-Wok wove the magic that made the virtual sets and scenery.

We will see a lot more of this sort of thing in years to come.

So much for the background, now to the foreground …

Leah Crocetto made her Opera Australia debut in 2021 in Aida and now we get to enjoy the full range of that richly textured and oh-so-delicately controlled soprano once again in Davide Livermore’s production of Il Trovatore.

She played Leonora, the pivotal character whose love for Manrico enrages her jealous suitor, Count di Luna, against a backdrop of the Spanish Civil War.

The American singer’s ability to switch from agile runs, leaps and trills — what we know as coloratura — to sustained high notes was awesome.

Yonghoon Lee as Manrico.

Korean performer Yonghoon Lee, as her lover, produced an impressive tenor of strength and flexibility, let down fleetingly in Act I, although he rallied and ended to roars of approval.

Franco-Russian mezzosoprano Elena Gabouri played Azucena, Manrico’s Gypsy mother who is hellbent on destroying Leonora’s pursuer, Count de Luna.

Gabouri’s heartfelt rendering of Stride la vampa (The flames are roaring) in Act II set the scene for the conflict to come.

Belarus-born Maxim Aniskin, as the count, made a formidable foe, his beautifully nuanced baritone ringing out with messages of frustration, hate and jealousy in equal measure.

His second in command, Ferrando, was played with relish by Australian David Parkin, whose deep bass continues to delight opera fans.

The Opera Australia Chorus and one of the stunning digital backdrops.

The opera’s most famous work, the Anvil Chorus, was delivered with satisfying authority, as was that other Verdi favourite, the Miserere chorus in Act IV.

Verona-born conductor Andrea Battistoni, only 35 years old and already an internationally recognised talent, showed that his reputation was well deserved. I like a conductor who knows when to take the foot off the accelerator and when to apply it, as he clearly does.

Lastly, a word of praise for costume designer Gianluca Falaschi, whose imaginative touch enriched the look of the production, and lighting designer John Rayment, who proved up to the challenges of the opera’s shifting demands.

DETAILS

• OPERA: Il Trovatore

• STARS: Leah Crocetto, Elena Gabouri, Yonghoon Lee, Maxim Aniskin

• AT: Sydney Opera House

• UNTIL: July 30

• BOOKINGS: 9250 7777, www.sydneyoperahouse.com