Giuseppe Verdi

Il trovatore

- Tuesday, January 29, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.

SUMMARY

When it comes to striking a balance between energetic entertainment, beauty and psychological truth, few composers are as masterful as Verdi. The question at the heart of the melodrama is, “can rivals in love become brothers in arms?” The tale of love and revenge is passionate, mysterious, violent and thoroughly human. This stark, menacing production, updated from the 15th century to the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, reveals how Verdi’s melodies – urgent, foreboding and haunting – convey the spirit and pulse of revolution.

The story is intricate and circular: the misplaced love of the noblewoman Leonora for a troubadour, a count’s passion for Leonora, a gypsy woman burnt at the stake, and much, much more: kidnapping, suicide and murder are all part of the rich plot in which people are connected by life, love and dark secrets. 

Michael Scott-Mitchell’s set is suitably stark and menacing, and Nick Schlieper’s effective lighting creates a luminous realm for a star-powered ensemble featuring one of the rising stars of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Arnold Rawls, as Manrico, Daria Masiero as Leonora, rising baritone Michael Honeyman, who makes his role debut as Count di Luna, and international mezzo-soprano Milijana Nikolic as Azucena. Conducting honours go to Arvo Volmer, the music director and chief conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

Want to know more? Read the synopsis (the story of the opera) or an interview with Anthony Legge and Lyndon Terracini on the difficulties of casting Il Trovatore.

This production was originally commissioned by the State Opera of South Australia, West Australian Opera and Opera Queensland.