Corsaro and Giovanna d'Arco

THE Verdi Festival at Covent Garden continues with the revival of rarely heard operas which demonstrate the vigour and ceaseless, melodic fertility marking the composer's work from early days.

Il Corsaro, given at the Royal Opera in concert form - reveals Verdi as already a master of melodramatic effect and incidentally provides a rewarding platform for the outstanding Argentinian tenor Jose Cura; while a fully staged production of Giovanna d'Arco shows what can be achieved by lavish expenditure coupled with talented direction.

Wexford audiences will remember a relatively simple production of this work in 1976 - including the anomaly of a Japanese Joan and a black Dauphin - but at Covent Garden it is treated in spectacular fashion by the gifted Philip Prowse, who is both designer and director.

The concept of pageantry is established from the beginning, reaches its climax with the triumphal procession and coronation of Charles VII, and then switches abruptly to the stark, impressive image of the Maid chained to a stake on a funeral pyre high above the stage; as this is basically Schiller's version of the story, she is, however, released to fight another day. Costumes for the grander characters, notably the clergy, are elaborate and rich, while the armies wear uniforms reminiscent of the Franco Prussian war.

Dennis O'Neill, June Anderson and Vladimir Chernov share the principal honours with fine singing and a remarkable degree of dramatic conviction. Daniele Gatti conducts with singular attention to the wealth of important details underlying the youthful exuberance of the score.