By Fiona Maddocks [Evening Standard, 4 June 2008]

To the accompaniment of storm, tempest and icy blast, Opera Holland Park’s 2008 season opened in roaring style.

Verdi’s Il Trovatore, the one about the gipsy who carelessly throws a baby on the fire and causes a good deal of operatic trouble, is a long evening with your feet wet. It’s a tribute to all involved that it felt shorter than this most convoluted of tales sometimes can, even in lavish circumstances.