[Met Performance] CID:121360
Il Trovatore {195} Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts: 04/3/1937.
(Review)
Boston, Massachusetts
April 3, 1937
IL TROVATORE {195}
Giuseppe Verdi--Salvatore Cammarano
Manrico.................Giovanni Martinelli
Leonora.................Elisabeth Rethberg
Count Di Luna...........Carlo Morelli
Azucena.................Bruna Castagna
Ferrando................Ezio Pinza
Ines....................Thelma Votipka
Ruiz....................Angelo Badà
Gypsy...................Arnold Gabor
Conductor...............Gennaro Papi
Review signed W. J. S. in the Boston Herald
'IL TROVATORE'
The gloomy story of "Il Trovatore,"` no matter how frequently done by second rate companies, makes considerable demands on the singers. The part of Azucena with its curious mixture of intense hatred and fanatical love always has demanded a contralto of a peculiarly deep and somber color, and Saturday night's presentation of Bruna Castagna in that role was particularly successful from every angle. Her singing of the part was intensely dramatic, as indeed the opera demands of it if it even begins to come off as it should, and her acting was well in keeping with the Verdi style.
Perhaps one of the best actors and singers the Metropolitan can boast is Ezio Pinza, whose Ferrando was sufficiently intense and dramatic without being anywhere near as absurd as the part can be done. Mr. Pinza's singing has always impressed us with his deliberate musicianship - something to be envied by a considerable number of opera stars to whom are entrusted more important roles than a bass usually receives.
The audience was most enthusiastic over Mr. Martinelli's singing, and he undoubtedly was the main attraction of the evening although his voice and acting show the strain of his many years of singing. He still is more than adequate for Italian opera, in which he is as much at home as is Mme. Flagstad in Wagnerian roles. If at times his singing and acting seem a bit perfunctory, one can point to the enormous number of Italian opera performances he has done and realize that some of the brilliance of his exceptionally powerful voice must be a bit dimmed by time.
In an old favorite such as "Il Trovatore," every part must be unusually well done, and it was a pleasure to hear a fairly well rounded performance conducted by Gennaro Papi. The orchestra provided a much more ample performance than one is accustomed to hear. The part of Leonora done by Elizabeth Rethberg was exceedingly effective especially in the duets with Martinelli in the "Miserere" scene. Carlo Morelli as the Count di Luna fell short of the other singers in the intensity of his work, although it certainly can be said that his singing, also that of Thelma Votipka as Inez, was adequate throughout. The Metropolitan chorus did some splendid work. The audience was exceedingly generous with its applause.