NO opera company anywhere finds it easy to cast Verdi's Il trovatore nowadays, so it is a great credit to the mainly young singers in Lyric Opera's concert with actions production at the NCH that they gave so much pleasure for so much of the evening.

Sarah Sweeting was almost a very good Leonore; but her appealing presence, sure line and telling projection of the text were compromised by a spreading of tone at the top of her range, that area so vital for success in this role. In the demanding title role, Khosrow Mahsoori was several notches below the required weight. He coped manfully with the early scenes; but, by the time he reached Ah! si, ben mio, which ought to have suited his light lyric tenor, fitigu had set in and both it and its cabaletta found him simply overparted. Happily, he recovered in time to deliver a moving prison scene at the end.

As so often in this opera, the more interesting performaces", came from the lower voices. ,Linda Hibbard, a riveting Azueena, husbanded her not particularly large mezzo soprano to ensure that she had enough reserve for all of her fraught ourbursts. Irakli Grigalashvilli played the Count of Luna as a bully boy, never reducing his impressive baritone below mezz forte. At present he is an ungainly singer and rhythmically suspect, but there is no denying the sheer impact of his voice. I like the way bass baritone Julian Saipe made much out of little as the old soldier, Ferrando.

It is never easy for a conductor to control a performance where the principals are working behind his back. As a safeguard, and in the light of a very short rehearsal period, Noel Davis opted for mostly moderate pacing. Even so, there were some moments of very ragged ensemble during the convent scene, especially from the chorus, and they were in front of him. In their set pieces, however, Peter McBrien's Cantabile singers sang lustily and provided a solid backing to the big ensembles.