NCH, Dublin

Verdi’s

Il trovatore

is the slow unravelling of a twisted and gruesome pre-plot, and designer-director Vivian Coates piled on the atmospheric touches accordingly.

The braziers, the copious clouds of dry ice, and the toing and froing of the chorus over laterally raked staging might have been more than was needed to make you forget you were in a concert hall rather than a proper theatre, but there were certainly moments when you did. Though stage business occasionally took its toll on the musical coordination, the discipline and good judgement of conductor and chorus master Fergus Sheil shone through. His small orchestra etched the details with loving care.

Deirdre Masterson sparkled in the side-role of Inez, while Piotr Hruszwicki was statuesque and smooth of voice as Ferrando.

Soprano Miriam Murphy delivered a full-throttle interpretation of the heroine Leonora, her considerable powers overshadowing the vestiges of bel canto in Verdi’s score. Yasuo Horiuchi, while not at a plummy best in his Act II aria, proved a fine fit for the proud and overbearing Count di Luna.

As Manrico, tenor Michael Wade Lee was in all respects to the manner born, and made his Act III aria (the celebrated

Di quella pira

) a fiery focal point of the drama – even though, following the composer’s wishes rather than received interpretation – he abstained from a high C at the end.

What made this production, though, was mezzo Imelda Drumm’s wide-eyed and utterly engrossing portrayal of Azucena, the unhinged filicide and loving adoptive mother. It helped that Drumm got some of the best visual effects to herself. It helped too that she made the part sound as if Verdi had written it for her. But apart from those things, she achieved a characterisation of remarkable consistency and emotional force.