Il trovatore Totally Explained

Everything about Il Trovatore totally explained

Il trovatore (The Troubadour) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Leone Emanuele Bardare and Salvatore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was first performed at the Teatro Apollo, Rome on 19 January 1853. In 1857 Verdi revised the opera for Paris as Le trouvère and added a ballet.

Performance history

On many different occasions, this opera and its music has been featured in various forms of popular culture and entertainment. Scenes of hilarious comic chaos play out over a performance of the opera in the Marx Brothers's film, A Night at the Opera, while, on a more serious note, the opening sequence of Luchino Visconti's 1954 film Senso features a performance at La Fenice. Noting that the opera is very easy to produce, Enrico Caruso once said that "All you need is the four best singers in the world."
As a staple of the standard operatic repertoire, it appears on Opera America's list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America, at number 17.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, January 19, 1853 (Conductor: - )
Count di Luna, a nobleman in the service of the Prince of Aragon	baritone	Giovanni Guicciardi
Manrico, a troubadour and officer in the army of the Prince of Urgel	tenor	Carlo Baucarde
Azucena, a gypsy, supposedly Manrico's mother	mezzo-soprano or contralto	Emilia Goggi
Leonora, noble lady, in love with Manrico and courted by Di Luna	soprano	Rosina Penco
Ferrando, Luna's officer	bass	Arcangelo Balderi
Ines, Leonora's confidante	soprano	Francesca Quadri
Ruiz, Manrico's henchman	tenor	Giuseppe Bazzoli
An old gypsy	bass	Raffaele Marconi
A messenger	tenor	Luigi Fani
Leonora's friends, nuns, the Count's lackeys, warriors, Gypsies

Synopsis

ť Place: Biscay and Aragon (Spain)

Time: Fifteenth century.

Act I: The Duel

Scene 1: The guard room in the castle of Luna (The Palace of Aljaferia, Zaragoza, Spain) Ferrando, the captain of the guards, orders his men to keep watch while Count di Luna wanders restlessly beneath the windows of Leonora, lady-in-waiting to the Princess. Di Luna loves Leonora, and is jealous of his successful rival, the troubadour Manrico. In order to keep the guards awake, Ferrando narrates the history of the count to the guard. (Aria: "Di due figli vivea padre beato") It appears that a gypsy had once bewitched the little brother of the count, making the child weak and ill, and for this had been burnt alive as a witch. Dying, she'd commanded her daughter Azucena to avenge her, which she did by carrying off the younger brother. Although the burnt bones of a child were found in the ashes of the pyre, the father refused to believe in his son's death; dying, he commanded Count di Luna to seek the gypsy. Scene 2: Garden in the palace of the princess
Leonora confesses her love for Manrico to her confidante, Ines. ("Tacea la notte placida"... "Di tale amor"). When they've gone, Count di Luna hears the voice of his rival (Manrico, behind the scenes: "Deserto sulla terra"). While Leonora in the darkness mistakes the count for her lover, Manrico himself enters the garden, and she rushes to his arms. The count recognises Manrico as his enemy, who has been condemned to death, and compels him to fight. Leonora tries to intervene, but can't stop them from fighting (Trio: "Di geloso amor sprezzato").

Act 2: The Gypsy Woman

Scene 1: The gypsies' camp
While Manrico sits at the bedside of his mother, Azucena, the gypsies sing the famous Anvil Chorus (Chorus: "Vedi le fosche notturne"). She is the daughter of the Gypsy burnt by the count and, although old, still nurses her vengeance. (Aria: "Stride la vampa") The Gypsies break camp while Azucena confesses to Manrico that after stealing him she'd intended to burn the count's little son, but had thrown her own child into the flames instead (Aria: "Condotta ell'era in ceppi"). Manrico realises that he isn't the son of Azucena, but loves her as if she were indeed his mother, as she's always been faithful and loving to him. Manrico tells Azucena that he defeated Di Luna in their duel, but was held back from killing him by a mysterious power (Duet: "Mal reggendo") A messenger arrives and reports that Leonora, who believes Manrico dead, is about to enter a convent and take the veil that night. Manrico rushes away to prevent her from carrying out this purpose. Scene 2: In front of the convent Di Luna and his attendants intend to abduct Leonora and the Count sings of his love for her (Aria: "Il balen del suo sorriso" ... "Per me ora fatale"). Leonora and the nuns appear in procession, but Manrico prevents Di Luna from carrying out his plans and instead, takes Leonora away with him.

Act 3: The Son of the Gypsy Woman

Scene 1: Di Luna's camp (Chorus: "Or co' dadi ma fra poco") Ferrando brings in the captured Azucena. She is recognised by Di Luna and sentenced to be burnt. Scene 2: A chamber in the castle Leonora and Manrico live only for each other. (Aria, Manrico: "Ah si, ben mio coll'essere") Ruiz, Manrico's comrade, reports that Azucena is to be burned at the stake. Manrico rushes to her aid (Stretta: "Di quella pira l'orrendo foco"). Leonora faints.

Act 4: The Punishment

Scene 1: Before the dungeon keep
Leonora attempts to free Manrico, who has been captured by Di Luna (Aria: "D'amor sull'ali rosee", Chorus & Duet: "Miserere"). Leonora begs Di Luna for mercy and offers herself in place of her lover. She promises to give herself to the count, but secretly intends die first by taking poison (Duet: "Mira, d'acerbe lagrime"). Scene 2: In the dungeon Manrico and Azucena are awaiting their execution. Manrico attempts to soothe Azucena, whose mind wanders (Duet: "Ai nostri monti ritorneremo") At last the gypsy slumbers. Leonora comes to Manrico and tells him that he's saved, begging him to escape. When he discovers she can't accompany him, he refuses to leave his prison. He believes Leonora has betrayed him until he realizes that she's taken poison to remain true to him. As she dies in agony in Manrico's arms she confesses (Aria: "Tu vedrai che amore in terra") that she prefers to die with him than to marry another. (Quartet: "Prima che d'altri vivere") The count enters to find Leonora dead in his rival's arms and orders Manrico to be led to execution. Azucena arises from her couch and when Di Luna, dragging her to a window, shows her the dying Manrico, she cries in triumph: "He was your brother. You are avenged,oh mother!" The opera ends with the count screaming in despair, at the same time as Azucena, "E vivo ancor!" ("And yet I'm still alive!")

Selected recordings

Year	Cast (Count di Luna, Manrico, Leonora, Azucena)	Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra	Label
1930	Apollo Granforte, Aureliano Pertile, Maria Carena, Irene Minghini Cattaneo	Carlo Sabajno, Teatro alla Scala Chorus and Orchestra	Audio CD: Membran/Quadromania Cat: 222182-444 (Also contains recording of Rigoletto)
1952	Leonard Warren, Jussi Bjorling, Zinka Milanov, Fedora Barbieri	Renato Cellini, RCA Victor Orchestra, Robert Shaw Choir	Audio CD: RCA Victor, Cat: 6643-2RG
1963	Ettore Bastianini, Carlo Bergonzi, Antonietta Stella, Fiorenza Cossotto	Tullio Serafin, Teatro alla Scala Chorus and Orchestra	Audio CD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: B000J233I0
1970	Sherrill Milnes, Plácido Domingo, Leontyne Price, Fiorenza Cossotto	Zubin Mehta, New Philharmonia Orchestra	Audio CD: RCA Cat: 74321-39504-2
1976	Ingvar Wixell, Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne	Richard Bonynge, Kingsway Hall, National Philharmonic Orchestra	CD: Decca Audio CD ASIN: B000N4SJI8
1978	Piero Cappuccilli, Plácido Domingo, Raina Kabaivanska, Fiorenza Cossotto	Herbert von Karajan, Vienna State Opera, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra	DVD: TDK DVD Video ASIN: B00068NVL6
1984	Giorgio Zancanaro, Plácido Domingo, Rosalind Plowright, Brigitte Fassbaender	Carlo Maria Giulini, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia	Audio CD: Deutsche Grammophon ASIN: B000001G9Y
1991	Vladimir Chernov, Plácido Domingo, Aprile Millo, Dolora Zajick	James Levine, Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus	Audio CD: Sony ASIN: B0000027UA

Note: "Cat:" is short for catalogue number by the label company; "ASIN" is amazon.com product reference number.

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