First rehearsal with everything together, in the settings and partly costumed. The stage is modern and up to date. I was particularly struck by the carefully worked-out staging of the chorus. As directed by Coini they did not act at all, and the principals acted according to their own inclinations and talents, not as an ensemble. Here the hand of a director who loves his craft is evident throughout. As for the quality of the voices, the women were on the whole middling and the men pretty good, some of them - like King Chelio, excellent.