Verdi: Il Trovatore

A truly glamorous cast and conductor for this Vienna production, directed by Karajan himself in the old-fashioned style. Fine music-making, though the dark-toned visuals are pure period-piece. — BBC Music Magazine, August 2017, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 12th May 2017
Catalogue No: 109334
Label: Arthaus Musik

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Verdi: Il Trovatore

Live from the Vienna State Opera, 1978
Raina Kabaivanska ( Leonora), Piero Cappuccilli (Il Conte di Luna ), Fiorenza Cossotto (Azucena), Plácido Domingo (Manrico), José van Dam (Ferrando)
Orchestra and Chorus of the Vienna State Oper
Herbert von Karajan (conductor and stage-director)

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Il Trovatore was always one of Herbert von Karajan‘s favourite operas. He conducted it at the very beginning of his career and his ﬁrst studio recording in 1956 was made in Milan with Maria Callas and Giuseppe di Stefano, but „his“ Trovatore really made its mark in the legendary performances given at the Salzburg Festival in 1962, which formed the basis for this successful revival in Vienna. He once declared in an interview that what he loved about this opera was its archetypal human passions, its compression of highly dramatic situations into the smallest conceivable space and Verdi‘s genius for translating such situations into music.

This 1978 performance is steeped in scandal. Franco Bonisolli was originally cast in the lead role but abandoned the cast during a rehearsal where the public had been admitted entry, and, after throwing his sword at the conductor, left the stage in fury, to be later replaced by Plácido Domingo.

What this performance makes so special: Karajan not only conducted the opera, but he was also responsible for the stage direction.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Picture Format: 4:3 DVD 9 / NTSC Running Time: 151 mins Subtitles: DE, FR, EN, IT, ES, CN FSK: 0

Reviews

August 2017

A truly glamorous cast and conductor for this Vienna production, directed by Karajan himself in the old-fashioned style. Fine music-making, though the dark-toned visuals are pure period-piece.

Verdi: Il Trovatore

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