The release of the new EMI Il Trovatore  with the opera couple (Alagna & Gheorghiu) prompted me to delve into an Il Trovatore face-off, after all, it is been a long time a new Il Trovatore has been released and now we have two released so close in time (SONY released in 2001 and EMI 2002). I tried to break down the face-off into three simple categories: recording (meaning recording quality not necessarily performance quality), cast and conducting (orchestra included). 

Recording

The EMI is superbly recorded. From the first chords in the Act I opening, the sound is big and lushy, the bass is marvelously captured and so are the highs. Listening to SONY's is a shock because of the famous La Scala dry acoustic, the recording sounds compressed in both the highs and the lows. Notwithstanding, the SONY is a very good La Scala recording, it is not easy to record there and SONY did a good job, the orchestra principally is superbly captured, the singers less so. The EMI is simply a marvel, it is surely one of the best recorded Trovatores around.

Cast

Manrico

The part of Manrico attracts many a tenor, first because of the two arias, "Ah, sė ben mio" and "Di quella pira" (which contains the famous or infamous high C). The problem is this part is not only comprised of these two arias, most of the times, what is required is a very strong middle and a good high as well. This part should also sound a little bit darker than other Verdi roles (in that it resembles Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino). But it is not a Verismo role. It is firmly rooted in the bel canto tradition, and the tenor must be able to not only meet the above requirements but also sing with grace and style and be able to fire some trinados as well.

What drove Alagna to Manrico remains a mystery to me. He basically possesses a lyric voice, with good high notes. The problem is that his voice is lighter than the role. He then resorts to something he does constantly, to color the voice given it a darker edge. It is tiring after a while to listen to him always trying to convey a voice that does not come natural to him. He interpolates all the high notes, even a high D in the Act I trio. To my ears, all the high notes sounded "spliced" and studio bound. I know he has sung them live but with mixed results (specially the high D). He phrases well and shows a little more involvement than usual, but to me he protests too much and sounds a bit lachrymose.  His model is certainly Bjoerling, a famous lyric tenor who sang Il Trovatore, but alas he is no Bjoerling, who had a more open sound and a darker timbre by nature.

Licitra sounds more in place than Alagna. His voice is not as beautiful and he is not as sensitive to the character emotions, but the sound is more open and he has no problems with the lows. The voice is strong in the middle as well. But he is no match for the Manricos of the past, his is also a lyric voice pushed into heavier roles. Under Muti's guidance he sings all the notes and pays close attention to the score, but there is no life in his interpretation, he sings as if reading a prescription! Just compare Bergonzi's passionate reading in La Scala in the 60's and you will notice the difference. Because of Muti he does not sing any of the interpolated high notes not even the high C in "Di quella pira" which is a bit disappointing, but on the other hand he does sing all the trills in the score which few tenors do.

Leonora

I believe Gheorghiu has never sung this live and probably never will. She starts very well with a haunting " Tacea la notte"  where her beautiful singing and timbre take off. But the moment she starts " Di tale amor"  the magic disappears. She has no notion of bel canto, the trills and coloratura are a pain to her (a lyric soprano). She phrases well but not well enough if compared to the past singers in the role. Her " D' amor sull'alli rose"  is good but not exceptional. Caballe, Callas, Ricciarelli, Price to name a few sang it much better.

Fritolli sings very well indeed. Hers is a more inward interpretation then Gheorghiu and although she also skews the coloratura, she sings beautifully, she must thank Muti as well who delicately phrases and let her shine. Her "D' amor sull'alli rose"  is beautiful. Her pianissimos gorgeous (better than Gheorghiu here) and since her voice is darker than Gheorghiu, she fits better in this opera which is a very dark opera after all.

Conte di Luna

Hampson is totally out of place. His voice is not only small for the role but also light for the role. He tries to darken his voice and what comes out is a "raspy"  voice. He seems totally uninvolved, completely studio bound with no imagination whatosever.

Nucci although stiff is much better, he knows Verdi and has style in abundance. Under Muti's guidance he also sings the role as written and is very good in the coloratura (he was a Donizettian baritone) and his trills are very good as well. Just listen to " Il balen del suo sorriso" and the scene in Act II before Leonora appears in the convent to see how much more accomplished he is than Hampson.

Azucena

Diadkova is a good Azucena, but not hair-raising. She misses that Italian bite which only an Italian mezzo can deliver (Zajick is an exception). She also sounds studio bounded. In a live recording she would probably fare better. She does have problems with the role which is a killer anyways, calling for high B's and low B's. Her high B's are at the very limit of her voice. Her low notes are excellent though.

Urmana remains a mystery to me. I totally dislike her. Her voice is bright and this role requires dark voices. She sings well, following the score to a T (under Muti of course), and has good high notes (B's are not a problem for her). But her low notes are weak and her middle is not strong. Azucena is a gypsy, a sorcerer and on edge! Listening to Urmana's interpretation you'd think she is a girl in her twenties a little unbalanced!

Ferrando

This is a killer role mainly because of the first scene in Act I which has a lot of coloratura with trills included. Under Muti, Giuseppini does very well, Muti is very fast and he is able to cope, an achievement in itself! The voice is not very large or beautiful and it lacks that extra resonance, a great bass would deliver but he fits in the ensemble.

D'Arcangelo is also good, has good trills and knows the role. Some of his singing is a little bit studio bound.

Conducting

This is where the SONY recording shines. Muti does a superb job, the score comes alive in his hands. All the rhythms are precise, the score is followed as written. No unnecessary high notes (including the high C in " Di quella pira"). Sometimes he is a bit dictatorial, and is too fast (in Act IV, when Leonora sings " Prima que d' altri vivere"  for example). He only gives in to the women, whenever Fritolli or Urmana is singing he follows, but for the men he drives! Just listen to the first act - scene 1, where the orchestra sings with the chorus and the singers, with Pappano, the orchestra just hums along, there is no life! Details abound as well, listen to how the cellos sound so penetrating when Leonora says "Ah! fu pi`u rapida la forza del veleno ...". With Pappano you have to strain to hear the cellos. A "Toscanini" inspired conducting for sure! I heard things in Il Trovatore I've never heard before. The La Scala orchestra and chorus are superb.

Pappano just follows the singers and shows no style or interest in the score whatsoever. The London Symphony Orchestra pales in comparison to the La Scala and so does the London Voices chorus.

Summary

None of the above recordings can be a first recommendation. I prefer the Mehta with Domingo, Price, Cossoto, Milnes (RCA), Bjoerling,Milanov,Barbieri,Warren conducted by Cellini (also RCA), the Giulini with Domingo, Plowright, Fassbaender, Zancanaro (DG) and Levine with Domingo (again, third time!!!), Millo, Zajick, Chernov (SONY). These recordings offer better singing (not better conducting or orchestra, Muti does score here, I do not prefer him to Giulini or Levine though) and more involment in the principal roles as well.

In the interesting category, I would place the Domingo (the Manrico of the century ?), Kabaivanska, Cossoto, Cappuccili. Karajan has a strange view of this score, the rythms are sometimes slow to a crawl, other times  fast as lightining; but it remains his best recording of the piece and it is live (there is also a video).

The Pavarotti, Sutherland, Horne, Wixell is marred by poor conducting (too slow) and unidiomatic singing (only Pavarotti knows what he is singing).

If you like cheap recordings, try the Opera d' Oro with Bergonzi, Tucci, Simionato, Cappuccili/Gavazzenni. It is a great recording, Bergonzi and Simionato drive the Moscow audience (I was told La Scala was on tour) crazy! (what a far cry from the Muti era).