With a no-nonsense ‘Il trovatore,’ WNO comes back with a vengeance

The Washington National Opera opened its fall season Saturday night with a no-nonsense “Il trovatore,” directed with elegant restraint and whistle-cleanliness by Brenna Corner. A collectively splendid cast allows marvelous singing to tell the tale, with scarcely a frill to be found.

Indeed, Biscay and Aragon have never seemed so spartan — especially compared with last season’s overstuffed Seville. Erhard Rom’s spare, industrial sets (steel stairs, long drapes, sleek panels and grids) could easily have tilted itself right into Obsession-ad minimalism. Instead, his long, graceful lines and simple surfaces helped gently channel our attention — a canny choice when unraveling this love story tangled in a witchy multigenerational family feud.