Il Trovatore

BY GIUSEPPE VERDI

Familial revenge runs deep in Giuseppe Verdi’s towering opera of grand passions stymied at every turn. Music Director Eun Sun Kim continues her Verdi cycle with Il Trovatore, a work of sublime arias, passionate ensembles, and the rousing Anvil Chorus.

In her quest for vengeance, Azucena has accidentally killed her own child, kidnapped the son of her enemy, and raised him as her own. Now a troubadour, Manrico’s passion for Leonora plunges him into a love triangle that reignites a family feud and, only too late, reveals a tragic secret.

Sir David McVicar’s incisive, visceral production, rooted in the haunting imagery of Spanish painter Francisco Goya and the power struggles of the Spanish War of Independence, returns to San Francisco.

The 2017 winner of the Manetti Shrem Emerging Star competition, Arturo Chacón-Cruz vies with George Petean for the hand of Angel Blue. And holding close the dark secret is Anita Rachvelishvili as Azucena, a woman consumed by the need to right a long-ago wrong.