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Leonora is appalled by their sombre 'miserere', while the distant Manrico bids the chance of love farewell [listen -- DVD2 Act IV, 'Quel suon, quelle preci -- Ah! che la morte ognora']. Close-up highlights the moment Leonora decides to partake of the poison concealed in her ring. Having implied to the Count she will at last be his, she gains access to Manrico, who spurns the guilty freedom she has apparently purchased for him with shame. The truth dawns on him as Leonora collapses in his arms [listen -- DVD2 Act IV, 'Prima che d'altri vivere'].

The hothouse passions of Il Trovatore are wonderfully and indeed relentlessly captured in this performance. Occasionally one longed for a wider sweep of the Vienna stage, to give the drama a broader context. Karajan modestly confines himself to initial bows and a last curtain embellished with bouquets. Momentary slippages in ensemble may be ascribed to his penchant for conducting with eyes closed, though this we cannot know. The audience is allowed to be almost too vociferous in its applause, whereas in the privacy of one's room one can only reel exhausted when Manrico's execution allows Azucena the dubious pleasure of declaring that her mother's burning is avenged and the Count has done to death his brother.

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