This performance sports an all-star cast and, for the most part, it lives up to its promise. The stand-out is Franco Corelli who attacks the notoriously difficult role of Manrico with almost reckless abandon. Antonietta Stella, as Leonora, is excellent, but it sounds as if she may have been holding back slightly (even great artists have off-nights.) Fiorenza Cossotto is a wild Azucena and Ettore Bastianini delivers a suave Count. Gianandrea Gavazzeni's pacing can seem a little odd at times, favoring slow tempos often at a cost to the energy and drive of the work.