il trovatore notes

8/10/2019 Il Trovatore Notes

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Il Trovatore Notes:

General:

Librettist: Salvadore Cammarano and Leone Emanuele BardareDate: January 1853

Theatre and City: Teatro Apollo, Rome

Source Material: El trovador

Source Material Author: Antonio Garca Gutirrez

Source Material Date: 1836

Issues of Innovation: Its sheer bleaknesswas on a new scale for tragic opera:

o The two lovers both die and it seems there is not one character

who ends happy.

o Spoke to the audience as a type of truth of the times

2 Strong Female Roles:

Storyline was extremely new and innovative:

o Use of past and present (two storylines playing out at the same

time).

o Past: the death of Azucenas mum and her mistaken revenge inkilling her own son

o Present: The war between Manrico (and the gypies) and Il Conte

di Luna.

Lack of Overture:o Verdi wanted to actually begin the opera in scene 2 but

Cammarano insisted on having the first scene with Ferrando

explaining a bit of the backstory to the plot.

The opera would probably have suffered without it.

More extensive use of offstage singing:

o Developing on from Rigoletto

o Eg. Manricos entrance after Leonoras Tacea la notte hears himsinging the troubadour song offstage.

o Eg. The miserere tempo di mezzoin Leonoras Act III aria has

manrico, once again, singing the troubadour song offstage with the

monk chorus (also offstage) singing the miserere.

Onstage percussive sounds being used in the music:

o Julian Budden: Striking of the anvils in Act IIs Anvil Chorus wasextremely new to the audience and made it a stand out moment of

the opera.

Provides a strong sense of the work the gipsys do and in

turn sets a very strong working feeling to contrast what is

about to come from Azucena and so enhancing it


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Operatic Form:

REVERTING TO NORMAL FORMS, MANY CRITICS SUGGEST ASTEP BACK FROM RIGOLETTO.

Julian Budden:A very conventional libretto led to the need for a more

conventional musical structure but Verdi showed his distaste bystretching them to their limits.

o Verdi asked for but didnt get new and bizzare forms in thelibretto.

Philip Friedheim- Suggestion that libretto functions as lots of separate

scenes with no clear dramatic line holding them all together- they each

function separately and do not carry the weight of the previous scene

through.

o Suggests this is the reason why Verdi found himself reverting to

more separate and small operatic forms to create the opera.

Julian Budden:Act II - Stride la vampa

o

1stmovement stride la vampa

Is almost diagetic, a song that would be sung all the time.

Reminiscent of the first scene of Act 1, helps create the

contrast between the two stories that are talking about the

same occurrence from two different sides.

Hovers on a B which acts differently within chords of

Gmajor and E minor- it sticks around and feels like a

relentless yolk on Azucenas back.

o Tempo di mezzo:

Chorus leave, depressed but Azucena pays no notice.

Manrico demands to hear his grandmothers story, whichspurs Azucena into the 2ndmovement of the double aria.

o 2ndMovement: ***- FIND NAME

Azucena picks up the story where Ferrando leaves off

The music and emotions her are juxtaposed in a bizzare

way. Not madness but sheer complexity and conflict within

the character.

Julian budden:ACT III - Manricos Aria:

o Movement 1: Ah si, ben mio adagio

Manrico is declaring his love for Leonora as they are about

to approach their wedding day.

There is a lot of imagery of death again, I will die for youetc.

Contains a rising arpeggio motif in the orchestra, part of the

tinta of trovatore

o Tempo di mezzo:

Manrico and Leonora have a short arioso duet (20 bars)

that is the closest they get to a love duet.

Underpinned by an organ, creating the feeling of a

wedding and the ideals of religion and purity

The Ruiz comes in and tells Manrico that Azucena has been

captured and is going to be executed.


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This tempo di mezzo has a lot of action in it and develops

the plot a lot more than a conventional tempo di mezzo

o Movement 2: Di quella pira

Manrico orders his men to help him save his mother.

Moves from Db C major (from Leonoras key to Azucenas

key), from long lyrical themes to short, rhythmic patterns(Leonora Azucena).

Becomes a very big contrasting aria, this second movement

tears Manricos mind away from Leonora and to Azucena.

Top C put into the opera by the tenor Tamberick with

Verdis consent.

A very rousing second movement, that spoke to the people

of Italy as a sign of standing up against oppression.

HEROIC- REALLY CHARACTERISES MANRICO AS THE

HERO- giving up his happiness with Leonora for saving his

mother.

Julian Budden: Leonoras Double-aria:

o Movement 1- Damor sullale rose - cantabile

The aria begins with a soaring melody that rises high but

Leonoras lack of hope is painted in a dissolving melody atthe end.

o Tempo di mezzo (miserere)

This is a huge tempo di mezzo stretched to its extremes.

Have the monks praying offstage intertwined with

worrying comments by Leonora.

Manricos troubadour song is then heard offstage creating a

three way split in the action. All are presented in succession and then combined to create

a very powerful scene.

Leonora is promising to always remember Manrico but this

scene gives her courage to do something about his

seemingly inevitable execution.

o Movement 2- tu vedrai che amor in terra - cabaletta

Leonora is rousing herself with a storng melody but sill a

minor key ritornello showing she cannot get away from the

tragedy

Vocality:

Azucena:o Julian Budden: First significant role for a mezz-soprano in Verdi

opera.

Manrico:

Leonora:

Musics Articulation of Drama:

Source Material


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Thematics:

Death:

o Again musical figure of death is used the anapaestic

rhytm Eg. Played by whole orchestra in the miserere

anticipating the death of Leonora and Manrico who

are both featured in the tempo di mezzo.

o Death of azucenas mother and her son, conotations of

death for love that Leonora and Manrico constantly sing

about, eventual death of Leonora and then Manrico.

o Eg. 1stmovement of Manricos aria.

o CENOSRSHIP OVER DEATH:

Cannot see Leonora take the poison, cannot talkabout dying at the stake

Infanticide:

o Potent- iItaly had the highest rate of infant abandonment

in Europe during 19thcentury.\ Had Il ruota aplace where you could abandon

kids anonymously.o Influence of Giuseppina Strepponi:

She had 4 children and aboandoned the 2nd(the 3rd

died She called it our opera

Mother/son relationship:

Revolutionary theme politically charged (even in apoliticism)o Roselli: most politically effective opera

Curses and vengeance

Narratives of the past (different versions)

Virility

Civil war

Staging and Performance:

Gap between Rigolettoand Trovatorelongest since Nabucco (he

took time over it and Traviata)

Writing for ROME brought about a lot of CENSORSHIP ISSUES:

Julian Budden: Almost tried to dismiss writing the opera whenCammarano was approaching it from too conservative a standpoint.

o Eg. Act 3 Manricos aria. Verdi wanted the second section to be a

duetina with Leonora but Cammarano turned it into the huge

double aria we know now.


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Characterisation:

Manrico:

o is much more of a warrior than the men in previous

operas have been.o Julian Budden: A heroic tenor that is drawn into the tonal worlds

of Azucena and Leonora.

o Note: Manricos Act III aria

Leonora:o Julian Budden: Musical Propertiesof Leonora:

music is purely lyrical. Long phrases with an aspiring

quality.

Leonoras music is mainly in Ab major and relative keys

o Julian Budden: EG. Scene 2 Leonora Aria Tacea la notte

Andate: beautiful melody, slowly rising over 28 bars to aBb

This then repeats with minor key embellishments to

help emphasise the story

Tempo di mezzo:Ines suggests Leonora tries to forget the

troubadour

Allgero Giusto: di tale amor saying she will live and die

for Manrico

o Note: Leonoras Act 3 aria

Azucena:

o Verdi: Azucena is strange and new with two great passions

filial love and maternal love.o Verdi in letter to Cammarano:Azucena is NOT MAD! She is

conflicted: love for Manrico, avenging her mother. The death is a

conclusion to this conflict and that explains the burst of an

exclamation O mother, you are avenged.

o Julian Budden:

Verdi originally wanted Azucena to be the lead woman and

the show to be called La gitana

the only real character that has proper depth to her.

o Julian Budden: Azucena is characterized before she is even on

stage when Ferrando is describing her in scene 1 Music is in with primitive and abrupt melodic lines with

gypsy-like grace notes. (pg 73 for music example)

o Julian Budden: Musical propertiesof Azucena

abrupt. Short phrases, common melody and repetitious and

strident rhythms

music mainly in E minor (when recalling death) and G

major (when singing of love for Manrico).

o Julian Budden: The end leaves us with questions about Azucena

and whether she is good or not.

o Note:Azucenas Act II Aria.

CRITICAL RECEPTION:


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MOST DERIDED OPERA AND YET MOST POPULAR:

o Ludicrous and incomprehensible plot, even for the first audiences.

o George Bernard Shaw: Opera would fail unless performed

perfectly.

o 230 productions in first 3 years.

Edward Dannreuthero Says the opera had backslided into vulgarity after the advances of

Rigoletto.

Alberto Mazzucato (in Gazzetta musicale di Millano):

o Azucena is a semi-impossible character

Why doesnt she burn the Counts son after her own?

Why then if she has affection for the son does she celebrate

his death at the end?

Sees her as mad!

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