I-hate-opera-guide
What’s to hate about Il Trovatore? Frankly, nothing. Except for the plot which is so totally confusing, even battle-hardened opera experts cannot follow.
Trovatore is about love, hate, revenge, violence and superstition. It will leave you emotionally drained and possibly quite shocked. But it will make you fall in love with opera.
• Composed during Giuseppe Verdi’s middle period (along with La Traviata and Rigoletto), Il Trovatore (1853) was his most successful opera during his lifetime.
• It remains one of the most performed operas today and features well-known choruses and a famous aria with a high C. Every tenor lives in fear of this one aria.
• It’s a relatively short (only 2’30’’) and fast-paced opera, with lots of scene changes. Not a second to be bored
And remember: opera features full orchestra, choruses and soloists. There is no electronic amplification! This guide helps you prepare yourself in under 30 minutes, so you can fully enjoy the live performance.
©Philip Eisenbeiss March 2023
The to Il Trovatore (2023) © Philip Eisenbeiss for Opera Hong Kong 2023Characters
To understand the story which is set in 15th century Kingdom of Aragon (pre-unification Spain), separate your thinking into what THE CHARACTERS know and what WE know. The only character in the opera who knows everything is the gypsy woman Azucena:
Leonora (soprano)
A noblewoman who just wants a simple life with the man she loves. But she has TWO suitors, which makes her life complicated.
Suitor #1: The Count di Luna (baritone, as most Verdi villains)
• A nobleman working for the Prince of Aragon; he is a brutal warrior who hates his opponents
• He is in love with Leonora, but is getting nowhere with her
• He is jealous of a troubadour (=Trovatore), a wandering minstrel, who is clearly more successful at courting Leonora
• He is also on a mission to find a gypsy woman who abducted or killed his baby brother
Suitor #2: The Troubadour/Manrico (tenor)
• As a mysterious troubadour he captures the imagination and heart of Leonora
• In actuality he is an officer for the Prince of Urgel, a political opponent of Luna
Azucena, the gypsy woman (mezzo-soprano)
• Azucena has been keeping a secret for decades:
o Luna’s father executed her mother as a witch, so in revenge Azucena kidnapped the count’s younger son, the brother of the Count Luna
o She brought up the kidnapped boy as if he were her own son. This is actually Manrico, who loves his presumed mother and knows nothing of his heritage
o Her sole focus is avenging her mother, which means destroying the house of Luna
©Philip Eisenbeiss March 2023
Plot Act 1
The opera opens without overture and gets straight to the action.
At a campfire, Ferrando, an officer for Luna, tells the soldiers the scary story of how the father of Count Luna condemned a gypsy to death and how that gypsy’s daughter abducted and probably killed Count Luna’s (Sr.) second son, the brother of current day Luna.
The second scene plays in the palace where Leonora sings about the mysterious warrior and troubadour. Listen to American/Canadian Sondra Radvanovsky (select the subtitle languages under SETTINGS) Notice how her voice has strength yet maintains the flexibility for the trills and coloraturas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-JDyaijY5o
©Philip Eisenbeiss March 2023
Luna enters to court Leonora and while they are all together they hear the Troubadour and his bewitching song in the distance. Hear legendary tenor Franco Corelli sing the gorgeous courting song (1’44’’) about being a lonely wandering minstrel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy1nsi7tM6E
Leonora is enchanted, Luna gets furious and confronts the Troubadour who is revealed as an officer in the army opposed to Luna. They duel, but inconclusively.
©Philip Eisenbeiss March 2023
Act 2
In a camp the gypsies sing the famous anvil chorus. Here’s a snippet from a modern Royal Opera House production
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8aHsJdMEMY
Azucena delivers her classic aria “Stride la vampa” (The flames are roaring) recounting the horrors of watching her mother burned at the stake. No wonder she is so angry. American mezzo Dolora Zajick nails this chilling aria.
©Philip Eisenbeiss March 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzvl5bYn-8M
A confusing day for Manrico, as he figures out that he cannot really be the gypsy’s son but still doesn’t know who his biological family is. He remains loyal to her, recounting how he almost killed Luna in battle, but somehow couldn’t do it. The gypsy berates him (we of course know; Azucena wants to destroy the Luna family). To make matters worse, he then learns that Leonora wants to become a nun.
Luna sings about his love for Leonora in front of the convent, while planning to abduct her Watch Siberian star baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky sing this famous aria “Il balen del suo sorriso” (Her smile shines brighter) For the lazy ones, you just need to watch 1:52 to 5:25, but you get extra points for listening to the whole thing. Pay attention to his endlessly long breath
©Philip Eisenbeiss March 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M44vCFN1J8
Manrico intervenes and foils Luna’s abduction plot. He steals Leonora himself. Luna and Manrico hate one another even more now (and they still don’t know they are actually brothers).
Act 3
Near the castle where Manrico has taken refuge with Leonora, the guards spot Azucena acting suspiciously. They figure she must be the mother of Manrico as well as the supposed killer of Luna’s younger brother. Luna senses a great opportunity to exact revenge and snuff out his enemy
Meanwhile, inside the castle, Manrico and Leonora prepare to tie the knot. Manrico sings of his love for Leonora. When he hears that Azucena has been captured, Manrico becomes enraged and calls his army to battle.
This is the moment the tenor has been dreading all night. A sweet love song “Ah si ben mio collessere” (Ah yes my beloved) is followed by the fierce battle cry to save his mother “Di quella pira” (From this pyre), culminating in the famous high C.
Watch the immortal Pavarotti in this shockingly difficult double-aria (9’21’’) Notice the abrupt change of atmosphere from love to war
©Philip Eisenbeiss March 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdbw_ynWZ9Y
OK, so the most musical among you will notice that Pavarotti – as most tenors of a certain age
sang a transposed version ending in a high B. So here you go with a much younger Pavarotti hitting a sensational and real high C in 1976. No wonder the audience went berserk!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zcJc0ZJDWE
©Philip Eisenbeiss March 2023
Act 4
Manrico has been captured by Luna Leonora tries to save him by promising to give herself to Luna in exchange for Manrico’s release, but she secretly takes poison.
In another really bad day for Manrico, he is in a dungeon awaiting execution together with Azucena who eventually falls asleep after singing of their beautiful years as presumed mother and son.
Leonora sneaks into the prison and urges him to escape alone. Manrico is upset until he realizes that she has poisoned herself because she refuses to be with Luna. Luna has been eavesdropping, and as Leonora dies he orders Manrico’s execution. Azucena awakens as Manrico is executed in the background. Azucena shrieks that Luna has just executed his own brother. The gypsy is avenged.
Watch the last few minutes (4’16’’) of the opera, where absolutely everything happens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeJEiSEsTRE
By this time, you’ll be emotionally drained. And probably still confused by the story. And then you’ll probably want to see the opera again.
©Philip Eisenbeiss March 2023
