The only other time I have seen Trovatore, it was a fairly conventional "19th century" big scene staging - lots of gypsies, anvils, mountain rocks to hide behind, fight scenes etc. This was totally different, with a "staircase" permanently on set and a design that was reminiscent of a painting by Hieronymus Bosch or Bruegel. We had acrobats in every scene acting out devils or imps, costumes straight out of a 14th century "doom painting", and complex choreography to reflect the chaos and anarchy of the time. This was a world of emotion and superstition, in which infernal creatures wearing horns and monster heads move among people who believe in witches and the dark power of the underworld. The problem though was that the characters were two dimensional, and the army and fight scenes rather comically lacking in perspective. I suppose this was all of the era of the original Spanish play, so there was some plausible justification, but it just came across as rather silly. Great idea in theory, but I found the jiggling and jiving of the acrobats and the chorus rather distracting; the FT called it "Verdi meets Dungeons and Dragons"! It was all a little ridiculous but of course it was wonderfully sung and played, with Jamie Barton as Azucena my standout star of the evening. French baritone, Ludovic Tézier, was also in excellent voice but had little otherwise to do other than walk around in a gold cape. Pappano in the pit, lots of ovations and bravos.