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Il Trovatore“The Troubadour”

Italian opera in four acts

Music by Giuseppe Verdi

Libretto by Salvatore Cammarano,after El Trovador (1836), a tragedy by

the Spanishplaywright, Antonio García Gutiérrez(The final libretto was completed by Emmanuele

Bardareafter Cammarano’s premature death.)

Premiere at the Teatro Apollo, Rome,January 1853

Adapted from theOpera Journeys Lecture Series

byBurton D. Fisher

Story Synopsis Page 2 Principal Characters in the Opera Page 4 Story Narrative with Music Highlights Page4 Verdi and Il Trovatore Page 17

the Opera Journeys Mini Guide Series

Published/Copywritten by Opera Journeys

www.operajourneys.com

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Story Synopsis

The Il Trovatore story takes place inSpain during the early 15th century: a civilwar rages between the armies of the Dukeof Urgel, a pretender to the throne, and KingJuan I of Aragon: Manrico is allied withUrgel, and the young Count di Luna withthe King; these two enemies in war arealso rivals for Leonora, a beautiful lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Aragon.

Fifteen years before the opera storybegins, an old gypsy was accused ofbewitching the elder Count di Luna’s infantson, and thus causing the child’s subsequentdeathly illness: afterwards, the gypsy wasburned at the stake. Her daughter, Azucena,to avenge her mother’s execution, kidnappedthe di Luna infant, intending to cast him intothe fires. But in her deranged state of mind,she accidentally cast her own son into thefires. Azucena escaped with the di Luna child,named him Manrico, and raised him as herown son.

In Act I, “The Duel,” Manrico, atroubadour, serenades Leonora from thepalace garden. His rival, Count di Luna,confronts him. A duel ensues and Manricotriumphs, but spares di Luna’s life.

In Act II, “The Gypsy Mother,” Manrico’ssurrogate mother, the gypsy Azucena,relates the events of her mother’s horribleexecution by the elder di Luna. Manrico,shocked at the cruelty, joins his mother andvows revenge against the di Luna family.

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Leonora believes that Manrico died inbattle and escapes to the convent of Castellor

to take her vows. Di Luna attempts tokidnap Leonora, but retreats after Manricoand Urgel’s soldiers overwhelm him.

In Act III, “The Gypsy Woman’s Son,”di Luna prepares to attack the fortress ofCastellor to re-kidnap Leonora. Azucena iscaptured by di Luna’s army. In panic, shecalls for Manrico’s help. Di Luna is delightedthat he has captured his enemy’s mother: hevows double vengeance.

Inside Castellor, just as Manrico andLeonora are about to be wed, Manrico learnsthat di Luna captured Azucena and plans toexecute her at the stake. Manrico rushesoff to rescue his mother.

In Act IV, “The Torture,” Manrico andAzucena have been captured and areimprisoned awaiting execution. Leonoraoffers to sacrifice herself to di Luna to saveManrico: di Luna agrees, but Leonorasecretly takes poison.

Leonora arrives at the prison to tellManrico that he is free: di Luna sees Leonorain Manrico’s arms, realizes he has beenbetrayed, and orders the immediate executionof Manrico and Azucena. Leonora dies fromthe poison. After Manrico is executed,Azucena reveals to di Luna that he has killedhis own brother: she shrieks with joy that atlast she has fulfilled her life’s obsession; hermother has been avenged.

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Principal Characters in the Opera

Leonora, a Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen of Aragon SopranoCount di Luna, a noble BaritoneManrico, a soldier and troubadour TenorAzucena, a gypsy Mezzo SopranoFerrando, a captain of di Luna’s guard BassInez, Leonora’s attendant SopranoRuiz, Manrico’s lieutenant Tenor

Soldiers of Urgel and Aragon, gypsies, nunsof Castellor

TIME: the year 1409PLACE: Spain, the provinces

of Biscay and Aragon

Story Narrative with Music Highlights

A twice repeated drum roll is followed bya burst of trumpets, a chivalric yet ominousintroduction to the forthcoming tragedy.

Opening music:

ACT I: “ The Duel”Scene 1 - Midnight at the Palace of Aliaferiain Aragon, Spain

The Queen is in residence in the di Lunapalace of Aliaferia. The young Count di Lunapasses the night before the window of thewoman he passionately loves, the Queen’sbeautiful lady-in-waiting, Leonora. The Counthas become consumed with jealousy and has

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ordered his soldiers to be on guard for amysterious, unknown rival who serenadesLeonora by night.

The soldiers huddle around a fire.Ferrando, a captain in di Luna’s guard,narrates the gruesome story that occurredfifteen years ago when the Count’s babybrother, Garzía, disappeared.

Garzía’s nurse awoke one morning to find asinister old gypsy hag in sorcerer’s robeshovering over the baby’s cradle, her bloodshoteyes staring fixedly on the child. The nursescreamed, help arrived, and the gypsy wasseized, protesting that she had only come to tellthe baby’s fortune. The gypsy was released, butafterwards, the child became deathly ill with alingering fever. All thought that he would die,believing that his affliction was caused by an“evil-eye” curse laid on the child by the oldgypsy. Di Luna’s soldiers pursued the gypsy inthe mountains of Biscay, apprehended her,accused her of witchcraft, and then executedher at the stake.

In terror, the old gypsy’s daughter vowed toavenge her mother’s brutal death: she kidnappedthe di Luna infant, Garzía, from his cradle. Afterhis disappearance, a frantic search ensued, butall that was found was a small half-charredskeleton smoldering on the exact spot wherethe old gypsy had been burned. The Count diLuna was broken-hearted, but was never fullyconvinced that his infant son was dead. Soonthereafter, while the Count was on his deathbed,he made his other son, the present Count diLuna, swear that he would be unceasing in hissearch for his brother.

The executed gypsy’s daughter vanished.However, it is believed that she still lives inBiscay and roves the countryside: Ferrandois certain that he would immediately recognizeher savage face if he saw her again.

After hearing Ferrando’s tale about gypsysorceresses and the di Luna family misfortunes,

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the soldiers shiver with superstitious dread.The midnight bell sounds, and they all departand enter the palace for the night.

ACT I - Scene 2: A terrace of the palace.

Leonora, a lady-in-waiting to the Queen ofAragon, strolls on the garden terrace with herattendant and confidant, Inez, heedless to Inez’sreminder that the Queen calls her from insidethe palace. Leonora has come to this secludedcorner of the palace garden hoping to meet hersecret lover, Manrico, the troubadour who hasbeen visiting the palace at night and serenadesher from the garden.

Leonora: Tacea la notte

Leonora confides to Inez that she metManrico when he was participating in a joustingtournament. He was an unknown knight in blackwho won every joust, and she had the honor tobestow the victory crown upon him. After theoutbreak of the civil war, the mysterious knightvanished.

But suddenly he has reappeared, serenadingher at night and invoking her name in beautifulsong. Inez tries to dissuade Leonora, fearingthat her lover is an enemy of Aragon in thecivil war; her passion for him can only leadto sorrow and anguish. Nevertheless, Leonorahas become captivated and enraptured by themysterious knight: she affirms her intense lovefor him and vows that she would gladly die forhim.

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Leonora: Di tale amor che dirsi…

After Leonora and Inez enter the palace, theCount di Luna appears in the shadows. As heexpresses his obsessive passion for Leonora,he is suddenly interrupted by the sound of a lute:his rival for Leonora has evaded his guards andis presently in the palace garden.

The troubadour’s serenade laments his saddestiny: he is lonely on earth, and is doomed tofight in wars. .

Manrico’s Serenade: Deserto sulla terra…

When Leonora hears the troubadour’sserenade, she rushes from the palace to greether lover, but in the darkness, she mistakenlyembraces the Count di Luna. The troubadourthen appears, raises his knight’s visor and revealshis identity: “I am Manrico,” further announcingthat he is an officer in the Urgel’s army.

The Count erupts into a frenzy of jealousyand anger, incriminating the troubadour as anoutlaw and his enemy in the civil war. Passionsreach a furious climax as Manrico and theCount di Luna, now bitter rivals in love andwar, duel in mortal combat: Manrico isvictorious but spares di Luna’s life; Leonorafaints.

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ACT II: “The Gypsy Mother”Several months later. A gypsy camp in themountains of Biscay.

The warfare between Urgel and Aragoncontinues unabated. Manrico, severely woundedin the recent battle at Pelila, is recovering inthe gypsy camp where he is cared for by hismother, Azucena.

In medieval times, many gypsies weretinkers by trade: they are seen in their mountainretreat working at their anvils.

Chorus: Anvil Chorus

Azucena is a wild and hideous creature,prematurely aged, and seemingly shattered inher wits. Nevertheless, with her son Manrico,she characterizes true motherly love,tenderness, and affection.

Azucena stands by a fire on the very spotwhere her mother was executed: She seemsmesmerized by the fire and craves revenge.

Azucena: Stride la vampa…

Azucena is obsessed, haunted, andtormented by the memory of her mother’sexecution by the old Count di Luna. WithManrico at her side, she relates the grim andhorrifying details of that dreadful moment.

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Azucena’s tale begins where Ferrando’searlier story left off. Her mother was led tothe stake by the old Count’s soldiers, and shefollowed behind while carrying her infant sonin her arms. Several times she tried to approachher mother, but was driven off by di Luna’s brutalsoldiers. It was then, seething with revenge, thatshe kidnapped the infant Garzía. She stoodbefore the pyres bearing both infants: her own,and di Luna’s. Her mother was placed on thepyres, barefoot and disheveled, and just beforeher death, decreed her last words to herdaughter: Mi vendica, “Avenge me,” a grievingplea that has remained eternally engraved inAzucena’s soul.

Manrico asks Azucena: “And did you avengeher?” Azucena reveals that in her heartbrokenand tormented state, she obeyed her mother’scommand for revenge, and flung the infant intothe flames. But in her delirium, dazed with hateand grief, she made a terrible mistake and threwher own son into the fire. When the horrorfaded, there, lying beside her, was the Count diLuna’s infant son, Garzía: Azucena murderedher own child! Manrico reacts to her story withshock and horror.

However, Azucena’s story bewildersManrico. If Azucena mistakenly cast her ownson into the fire, then who is he? Azucenaretracts her story and excuses herself,explaining that she was overcome with amomentary delirium; when she recalled thosegruesome events of her mother’s execution,she became confused. Azucena immediatelyreassures Manrico that she is indeed his mother,and reminds him that after he was reported deadat the battle of Pelila, she hastened there to givehim a proper burial, and when she found himseverely wounded, she nursed him back tohealth with maternal devotion, care, andtenderness.

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After Azucena’s dreadful story ends,Manrico, with soldierly pride, proceeds torelate the details of his duel with the Count diLuna. He reveals that he could have dispatchedhim with ease, but some mysterious instinctheld him back, perhaps a voice from heavenpreventing him from striking the fatal blow.

Manrico: Mal reggendo all’aspro assalto,

However, after Manrico hears his mother’stale about the horrors the di Lunas haveinflicted on her mother, he turns to sympathyand sorrow, and vows revenge on the Count.Azucena exults: Manrico has become herinstrument to fulfill her longed for revenge;Manrico will exact justice for her mother’sexecution by the old Count di Luna.

Ruiz, Manrico’s lieutenant, announces thatthe Count di Luna is planning to abduct Leonora.Leonora believed that her beloved troubadourhad died in the battle of Pelila, and in her futility,decided to enter a convent and take her vows.Di Luna became aware of her intentions andplans to kidnap her from the very threshold ofthe convent. Manrico decides to gather histroops and rescue Leonora.

Azucena becomes fearful and anxious. Shetries to dissuade Manrico with tears andprotests, appealing to him not to risk his lifewhile he is still weak from his wounds.Nevertheless, Azucena is tormented by herinner conflicts: Manrico has become herinstrument for revenge, and she fears thatlosing him would defeat her life’s passion; atthe same time, she loves Manrico as a son,and she fears for his safety.

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Act II - Scene 2: The Cloister of the Conventat Castellor

The Count di Luna believes Manrico diedin battle, therefore, all obstacles to possessingLeonora have been removed. He plans to abductLeonora from the convent before she takes hervows.

The Count reflects on his passionate lovefor Leonora.

Di Luna: Il balen del suo sorriso…

A chorus of nuns solemnly condemn thevanity of earthly possessions. Leonora, aboutto take her vows and join the sisterhood,expresses her hope that she may meet herbeloved Manrico among the souls in Heaven.

Count di Luna and his soldiers arrive toabduct Leonora, and almost immediatelythereafter, Manrico appears to challenge him.Suddenly, Manrico’s lieutenant, Ruiz, arriveswith soldiers of Urgel, overwhelm di Luna, butall judiciously and respectfully avoid aconfrontation in the convent.

Leonora abandons her vows andecstatically falls into Manrico’s arms. Manricois given command of Castellor as di Lunadeparts in a maniacal frenzy of frustration,defeated passion, and disgrace: both enemiescurse each other and vow to continue theirrivalry until death.

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ACT III – Scene 1:“ The Gypsy Woman’s Son”

In the fortress of Castellor, Manrico andLeonora prepare to be married.

Manrico: Ah sì ben mio coll’essere io tuo,

Count di Luna and his soldiers havesurrounded the castle, intending to seize it andcapture Manrico and Leonora. In relishing hisvictory, di Luna exults that he will have at hismercy, Manrico, his enemy and rival, and finally,Leonora, the woman for whom he lusts.

Azucena is captured while inadvertentlycrossing through di Luna’s camp. Ferrandointerrogates Azucena, recognizes her, and isfully convinced that she is their long desiredcriminal, the gypsy’s daughter who kidnappedthe di Luna infant. Ferrando swears to di Luna:“It is that wretched woman who committed thehorrid deed!” Azucena futilely tries to persuadethem that they are mistaken, but she iscondemned.

Azucena: Giorni poveri vivea,

Azucena is bound, and in desperation, criesout to Manrico for help. The Count becomesexultant when he realizes that he has capturedhis rival’s mother. Without hesitation, heorders Azucena to be executed on pyres tobe built in sight of his besieged enemy atCastellor.

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ACT III - Scene 2:

In Castellor, Manrico and Leonora are aboutto be married, but they are suddenly interruptedby Ruiz, who informs him that his motherhas been captured by di Luna’s forces and isabout to be burned on the stake. From a castlewindow, Manrico becomes horrified when hesees the fires being prepared. He summons histroops, postpones his marriage, and informsLeonora that his duty commands him to leave:“I was a son before I became a lover!”

In an expanded moment of heroic resolutionand filial devotion, Manrico rushes off torescue his mother.

Manrico: Di quella pira…

ACT IV: - The Torture (or The Punishment)

Manrico failed in his efforts to saveAzucena. Castellor was overrun by di Lunaand his forces; Manrico was defeated andcaptured, but Leonora escaped.

Manrico and Azucena are chained andimprisoned in the tower of Aliaferia. Leonorahas come to Aliferia to negotiate with di Lunato save Manrico: she will sacrifice her life forManrico; her ring contains poison.

Leonora: D’amor sull’ali rosee…

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From outside the prison, chanting monkspray for mercy for dying souls: the Miserere.The troubadour is heard singing from his towercell: his last farewell to his beloved Leonoraand his desperate yearning for death to relievehis agony. Leonora hears his passionate lamentand prays for mercy.

Manrico and Leonora: Miserere

The Count is seen relishing his victory atCastellor: nevertheless, he is chagrined that hefailed to find Leonora. Suddenly, Leonoraappears before him.

Leonora pleads with di Luna to spareManrico’s life: in exchange, she offers herselfto him. Di Luna, overjoyed by his longed-forvictory, consents: “He shall live!” But Leonorabetrays him, and whispers aside: “You shallpossess me, but cold and lifeless!” Leonorasurreptitiously swallows a slow poison fromher ring. Nevertheless, di Luna is ecstatic: hehas finally won Leonora and satisfied hispassion, albeit without honor.

ACT IV – Scene 2: Inside the tower

Manrico soothes his weak, terrified, anddistraught mother. She has become crazed inrealizing that she is to be burned alive, and againrecalls the horror of her mother’s execution.To avoid the reality of their doomed fate, theynostalgically dream about returning to thefreedom in the mountains of Biscay.

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Manrico and Azucena: Ai nostri monti..

Suddenly, Leonora arrives at the prison andannounces that Manrico is free. Manrico turnsto rage when he speculates on the price shepaid for his freedom; his honor is offended.However, Leonora reveals her sacrifice, tellinghim that “Rather than live for another, I choseto die for you”: Manrico’s joy turns to despair.

Count di Luna appears at the cell, seesLeonora and Manrico embraced, and bitterlyrealizes that she betrayed him. Suddenly,Leonora dies from the poison: Manrico isordered to his execution, and bids a last farewellto his mother.

The Count drags Azucena to the towerwindow and forces her to watch her son’sexecution. As the blade falls, Azucena cries out:“He was your brother!” Di Luna shrieks withhorrified anguish at the headless body of theman he has just executed: his brother, Garzía diLuna. Fratricide becomes di Luna’s final horroras he shouts in terrified torment: “Yet I amstill alive.”

Azucena’s obsession for revenge hasdestroyed the spirit and soul of Count di Luna.Deliriously, she proclaims her victory, thetriumph of her irrational passion: “Mother, youare avenged!”

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Verdi…..……………………and Il Trovatore

At mid-point in the nineteenth century, the37 year-old Giuseppe Verdi had become

acknowledged as the most popular operacomposer in the world: his operas were theopera box office rage, and some concludedthat he single handedly had all of Italy - andthe world – singing his music. Verdi’s operaswere Italian to the core, dutifully preservingthe great legacy and traditions of his immediatepredecessors, the bel canto giants, Rossini,Bellini, and Donizetti: In Verdi’s operas, voiceand melody remained the supreme core ofthe art form.

Viewing the opera landscape at mid-century,Rossini had retired almost 20 years earlier,Bellini died in 1835, Donizetti died in 1848,the premiere of Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète tookplace in 1849, and Wagner’s Lohengrinpremiered in 1850. Seemingly, the only activeopera composer whose works were capableof mesmerizing audiences was Verdi.

Between the years 1839 and 1850, Verdicomposed 15 operas. His first opera, Oberto(1839), indicated promise for the young, 26year-old budding opera composer, but hissecond opera, the comedy, Un Giorno diRegno (1840), was not only received withindifference, but was a total failure.

Verdi’s third opera, Nabucco (1842),became a sensational triumph and catapulted thehim to immediate world-wide critical andpopular acclaim. He proceeded to follow withone success after another: I Lombardi (1843);Ernani (1844); I Due Foscari (1844);Giovanna d’Arco (1845); Alzira (1845); Attila(1846); Macbeth (1847); I Masnadieri (1847);Il Corsaro (1848); La Battaglia di Legnano(1849); Luisa Miller (1849); and Stiffelio(1850).

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Verdi’s early operas all contained anunderlying theme: his patriotic mission for theliberation of his beloved Italy from oppressiveforeign rule: particularly, France and Austria.Verdi, with his operatic pen, sounded the alarmfor Italy’s freedom: The underlying stories inhis early operas were disguised with allegorythat advocated individual liberty, freedom, andindependence for Italy; the suffering andstruggling heroes and heroines in those earlyoperas were metaphorically his beloved Italiancompatriots.

In Giovanna d’Arco (“Joan of Arc” 1845),the French patriot Joan becomes a martyr aftershe confronts the oppressive English, theFrench monarchy, and the Church: the heroine’splight, synonymous with Italy’s struggle againstoppression. In Nabucco (1842), the biblicalstory of Nebuchadnezzar, the sufferingHebrews, enslaved by the Babylonians, wereallegorically the Italian people themselves,similarly in bondage by foreign oppressors.

Verdi’s Italian audience easily understoodthe underlying messages subtly injectedbetween the lines of his text and noblyexpressed through his musical language. AtNabucco’s premiere, at the conclusion of theHebrew slave chorus, Va Pensiero, theaudience stopped the performance for 15minutes with wildly inspired shouts of VivaItalia: an explosion of nationalism that, inorder to prevent riots, forced the authoritiesto assign extra police to later performancesof the opera. The Va Pensiero chorus becamethe emotional and unofficial “Italian NationalAnthem,” the musical inspiration for Italy’spatriotic aspirations. Even the name V E R DI had a dual meaning: homage to the greatmaestro expressed as Viva Verdi, and theletters V E R D I denoted Vittorio EmanueloRe D’ Italia: The return of King VictorEmmanuel was synonymous with Italianliberation and unification.

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As the 1850s unfolded, Verdi’s creativegenius had arrived at a turning point in termsof his artistic inspiration, evolution, andmaturity. He felt satisfied that his objectivefor Italian independence was soon to berealized: the Risorgimento of 1861 madeItalian nationhood a fait accompli.

Verdi now decided to abandon the heroicpathos and nationalistic themes of his earlyoperas. He began to seek more profoundoperatic subjects: subjects that would be boldto the extreme; subjects with greater dramaticand psychological depth; subjects that accentedspiritual values, intimate humanity, and tenderemotions. He became ceaseless in his goal toexpress the human soul on the operatic stagemore profoundly that it had ever been realized.

The year 1851 inaugurated Verdi’s “middleperiod,” a defining moment in his career inwhich his operas started to contain heretoforeunknown dramatic qualities, a profoundcharacterization of humanity, and an exceptionallyricism. Verdi’s creative art began to flowerinto a new maturity with operas that wouldeventually become some of the best lovedworks composed for the lyric theater: Rigoletto(1851); Il Trovatore (1853); La Traviata(1853); I Vespri Siciliani (1855); SimonBoccanegra (1857); Aroldo (1857); Un Balloin Maschera (1859); La Forza del Destino(1862); Don Carlos (1867); and Aïda (1871).

As Verdi approached the twilight of hisprolific operatic career, he was supposed to berelishing his “golden years.” It was a time whenthe fires of ambition were supposed to becomeextinguished, and a time when most peoplebecome spectators in the show of life ratherthan its stars. However, the great operacomposer defied the natural order andepitomized the words of Robert Browning’sRabbi Ben Ezra: “Grow old along with me. Thebest is yet to be.”

Consequently, Verdi overturned the

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equation and transformed his old age into aglory: “The best is yet to be” became his lasttwo operatic masterpieces, Otello (1887), andFalstaff (1893), both composed respectivelya the ages of 74 and 80. These operas areunprecedented in their integration betweentext and music and in their internal,architectural organic integration: they areconsidered by many to be the greatest Italianmusic dramas and tour de forces in the entirecanon. Verdi eventually composed 28 operasduring his illustrious career, dying in 1901 atthe age of 88.

I n 1851, Verdi was approached by themanagement of La Fenice in Venice to write

an opera to celebrate the Carnival and Lentseasons. In seeking a story source for the opera,Verdi turned to the new romanticism of theFrench dramatist, Victor Hugo, a writer whoseHernani he successfully treated in his operaErnani seven years earlier in 1844.

Victor Hugo’s play, Le Roi s’amuse, “TheKing Has a Good Time,” portrayed the libertineescapades and adventures of François I ofFrance (1515-1547), the drama featuring asits unconventional protagonist, an ugly,disillusioned, hunchbacked court jester namedTriboulet: he was an ambivalent and tragicallyrepulsive character who possessed two souls;physically monstrous, morally evil, and wickedpersonality, but simultaneously, amagnanimous, kind, gentle, and compassionateman showering unbounded love on his beloveddaughter. Hugo’s Triboulet became Verdi’s titlecharacter in his opera Rigoletto (1851), theopera that inaugurated his “middle period,” thatmonumental transitional period in hiscompositional career in which he began todevelop more profound operatic subjects.

Verdi’s immediate triumph with Rigolettoin 1851 inspired and propelled him forward.

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Almost simultaneously, he began working onthe composition of his next two operas: IlTrovatore (Premiere in January 1853), and LaTraviata (Premiere in March 1853). As a tributeto Verdi’s genius, no two operas could be sodistinctly different in character and style. IlTrovatore is a Romantic melodrama full of“blood and thunder” musical explosions,which owes much of its structural provenanceto the early 19th century bel canto traditions.La Traviata is a magical and sublime musicalportrait of a tragic heroine, a bittersweetsymphonic-type of opera that sweeps like anemotional tide as it conveys powerful momentsof emotional truth in each stage of the heroine’stragic plight.

Il Trovatore is based on the 1836 play, ElTrovador, written by García Gutiérrez, a

renowned early 19th century Spanish romanticplaywright. Gutiérrez’s play was extremelypopular and inherently a perfect operaticsubject for Verdi: its flamboyant melodramais saturated with fantastic, complicated, andbizarre incidents, together with extremepassions of love and noble sacrifice. Theplay’s intrigues provided Verdi with anopportunity to fulfil his new ambitions to injectnovel, unconventional, unusual, and bizarrethemes into his opera stories.

In the Romantic era, most underlying operastories never strayed far from established well-known plays and novels. Thus, many operastories during the period were adapted fromrecognized great works: Schiller, Shakespeare,Byron, Hugo, Scott, and Bulwer-Lytton. Ineffect, opera stories in the Romantic era wereequivalent to the cinema of a 100 years later:they satisfied the public’s thirst to havesuccessful books or plays transformed into adifferent medium. Thus, Gutiérrez’s play, apopular romantic melodrama that overflowed

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with consuming passions, as well asAlexandre Dumas fils’ equally popular novel,La Dame aux Camélias, became Verdi’schoices for the underlying stories for theoperas that would follow Rigoletto: IlTrovatore and La Traviata.

Salvatore Cammarano became Verdi’spersonal choice to write the libretto for IlTrovatore. He had written the libretti forDonizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), andearlier, Verdi’s own Alzira (1845) and LaBattaglia di Legnano (1849). Verdiconsidered Cammarano a quintessentialoperatic poet, in particular, a genius with a veryspecial flair for words: Cammarano was thepoet whom he hoped would later fulfill his life-long ambition to bring Shakespeare’s King Learto the opera stage, a dream that never reachedfruition.

Cammarano’s literary genius skillfullytransformed the Gutiérrez El Trovador playinto a dramatically scintillating opera.Nevertheless, the final libretto has become oneof the enigmas of the opera world. Many operaaficionados and critics believe that no study ofIl Trovatore’s complicated plot can make itcoherent or intelligible: it reputedly took Verdi21 days to complete Il Trovatore, but formany, an intellient understanding of the storyhas become a more time consuming feat.

Part of the difficulty in understanding theIl Trovatore story arises from Cammarano’sliterary style: the poet relished the opportunityto add variations and obscurities to the story.But the real complication is attributed to hispenchant for flowery diction and pompousprose, a style which owes its origin to the oldfashioned libretto Italiano tradition of the time.Cammarano’s genius with words created alanguage that at times seemed stilted andmonotonous: bells were never bells but “sacredbronzes”; and midnight was traditionally the

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“hour of the dead.” Adding to the latercoherence dilemma of Il Trovatore, manylater English translations of the story havetended to err and blunder in their translationand explanation of the plot.

When the curtain rises on Il Trovatore, theyears 1409 and 1410, a murderous civil

war is being fought for the succession to theSpanish throne. Manrico is the hero of the story:he is a troubadour, one of those knightly poet-musicians from Medieval times, the archetypeof courtly love. He is the “son” of the gypsy,Azucena, and fights for the cause of thepretender, the Duke of Urgel: the currentCount di Luna leads the armies of King JuanI of Aragon. Manrico and di Luna, enemiesin war, are also rivals for the hand of Leonora,a lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Aragon. Theunderlying irony and ultimate tragedy of thestory revolves around the fact that these twomen, violent enemies in war and bitter rivalsin love, are unaware that they are brothers.

ll Trovatore is a fantastic horror tale in thetrue Gothic genre. As such, its story hinges onan incident that took place 15 years beforethe curtain rises: the execution of the gypsyAzucena’s mother by the old Count di Luna.The engine that drives the entire Il Trovatoremelodrama is fueled by Azucena’s revengefor her mother’s execution. Azucena’scharacter was so dominating in the originalGutiérrez story that the English stage versionbore the title, The Gypsy’s Vengeance.

In the fifteenth century, the Spanish gypsypopulation was a tiny minority that had driftedfrom southern France. They were perceived bysociety as a detested underclass, stereotypedand denounced for licentiousness, treason,and heresy, the kidnapping of children, and avariety of unholy acts. Likewise, they were

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hated and feared for their dark skins, theirsilver earrings, and blanket-like garments, andmost of all, for their thievery. The Churchbecame paranoid with the gypsy population,considering them sorcerers whose witchcraftwas condemned as heresy and blasphemy.The Inquisition, created in 1480 (andabolished some 350 years later in 1834)persecuted the gypsy population as pagansand witches; bishops even excommunicatedpersons as heretics who let gypsies read theirpalms.

The gypsies in the Il Trovatore story,Manrico, Azucena, and her earlier executedmother, would automatically have becomevictims of those tides of hate where thesupreme punishment for their presumedsorcery was execution at the stake. The stakebecame the highly visible vehicle forpunishment and retribution againstblasphemers: the Czech reformer Jan Hus wasburned in 1415, and Joan of Arc was condemnedas a witch in 1431. According to the IlTrovatore story’s time-frame, Azucena’smother would have gone to the stake in 1394,15 years before the curtain rises, andAzucena’s death would have taken place whenthe curtain falls in 1410.

The di Luna family in the Il Trovatore storybear the customary suspicion of gypsies. Afterthe di Luna infant son became deathly ill, theold Count was convinced that the child’s illnesswas caused by an “evil eye” curse cast on himby an old gypsy who had been seen nearby. Thegypsy was apprehended, condemned, andimmediately burned alive at the stake.

Her daughter, Azucena, witnessed hermother’s horrible execution, becametraumatized and delirious, and heeding hermother’s last invocation, swore revengeagainst the di Luna family. Azucena kidnappedthe sick di Luna infant, intending to exactretribution by casting him into the smoldering

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fire, but in her craze and frenzy of themoment, she accidentally cast her own soninto the fire. The child whom she wouldeventually escape with would actually be thedi Luna infant son, Garzía, the di Luna childshe would rear as her son, Manrico.

However, within this melodrama offrenzied, irrational passions, there flowers analmost transcendental love between Manricoand Leonora: their love fuels a violent rivalrybetween Manrico and di Luna for Leonora’shand. Nevertheless, the core of the story andthe engine that propels the melodrama, remainsAzucena’s lifelong obsession for vengeanceagainst the di Luna family: it is the gypsydaughter’s resolve which drives the IlTrovatore to its ultimate, tragic conclusion.

Leonora and Azucena, Il Trovatore’s principalfemale characters, are brilliantly

contrasting characterizations, each of whominhabits opposite ends of the human spectrum.

Leonora is the heroine of the story, theultimate portrait of a woman capable ofprofound love as well as unquestionablereligious faith. However, Leonora becomes avictim of an incomprehensible andimperceptible world surrounding her withviolent human hatred and brutality. She facesthat eternal conflict of the sacred vs. theprofane: she forgoes her vows at the conventwhen Manrico suddenly appears, and in the end,she commit suicide by taking poison,sacrificing her life for her beloved Manrico.

Leonora is a noble heroine trapped in theconflicts and tensions of her fate and destiny.Verdi honors her through his sublime music,providing her with melodies that seem to beminted from pure musical gold. Leonora’smusic contains aspiring and inspiring qualitieswith phrases that are rich, lavish, arching,and soaring: her Act I aria, Tacea la notte, in

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which she describes her first acquaintancewith Manrico; her Act II, Scene 2, Sei Tudal ciel, the glorious rescue ensemble; and inAct IV, D’amor sull’ali rosee, her expressionof undaunted passion for Manrico before sheembarks on her doomed sacrifice.

Azucena is the keystone of the Il Trovatoremelodrama, and without her, the opera couldnot exist: Azucena is the engine of vengeancewho drives the entire drama. Even moreprofoundly than Leonora, Verdi musicallysculpted the character of Azucena with aheretofore unknown depth.

Azucena was an entirely new figure inVerdi’s female gallery of singers: up until IlTrovatore, Verdi had never made significant useor exploited the dramatic qualities of themezzo-soprano or contralto voice in a principalrole. The introduction of Azucena in IlTrovatore represents the beginning in a gloriousline of darker female voices: Ulrica in Un Balloin Maschera, Eboli in Don Carlo, and Amnerisin Aïda.

Azucena’s bizarre character drives the plotwith her two great passions: her maternal lovefor Manrico, and her obsessive passion toavenge her mother’s execution. Azucena is aswarthy and ominous character who swaggerssavagely as she recounts the vivid horror ofhow her mother was led to execution, and inher delirium, murdered her own infant son.The tragedy of the story is that her vengeanceleads her to destroy Manrico, the one beingin the world whom she loves.

Azucena is the counterpart of anothergrotesque character whom Verdi had createdonly two years earlier in 1851: Rigoletto.These two Gothic-type characters, Rigolettoand Azucena, are repulsive outsiders, in manyrespects, shocking forces to Verdi’s nineteenthcentury audiences, who expected to see onlybeautiful heroines and handsome heroes

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onstage; villains could be ugly, but they wereonly to be presented as secondary figures.

During Verdi’s “middle period,” he was ata critical turning point in his operatic evolution:he was seeking more profoundcharacterization and was willing to stretch theimagination in his search for the bizarre; heinsisted on making major protagonists out ofRigoletto, a mocked and cynical hunchback,as well as Azucena, a reviled andstereotypically ugly gypsy witch.

These two monstrous characters sharesimilar evil demons and destinies: Rigolettobrings about the death of his own daughter,murdered by the assassin he hired to murderthe Duke of Mantua; Azucena causes the deathof Manrico, the surrogate son she adores, firstby claiming under di Luna’s torture that she ishis mother, and secondly, and more importantly,by hiding from di Luna the fact that he andManrico are actually brothers.

Azucena could have saved Manrico, butpossessed with revenge, she did not: shebecomes the horrible, immoral spirit ofdestructive humanity. Rigoletto and Azucenaare, therefore, the male and female faces ofdefeated revenge: revenge that ultimatelybrings about fatal injustice and tragedy. Bothoperas, Rigoletto and Il Trovatore, aretragedies imbedded with irony. The finalhorror for both Rigoletto and Azucena is thatthey believe they are exacting justice.Rigoletto proclaims: Egli è delitto, punizionso io, “He is crime, I am punishment.”Azucena, expressing the sinister leitmotif ofIl Trovatore, repeatedly proclaims her dyingmother’s decree: “Mi vendica, “Avenge me.”Nevertheless, in the end, both see their belovedchildren lying dead, the only differencebetween them is that Rigoletto probably liveson in agony, haunted by his misdeed; Azucenasurely died at the stake as did her mother.

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Temperamentally, Verdi was an idealist, atrue son of the Enlightenment, who

possessed a noble conception of humanity.He abominated absolutism and deified civilliberty, which ultimately resulted in his lifelongmanifesto and crusade against tyranny;personal, social, political, or ecclesiastical. Hisoperas, Don Carlos (1867) and Aïda (1872),if anything, resound with profound underlyingsocio-political statements about the abuse andcorruption of power, and the inherentimpotence it inflicts on humanity.

Verdi was also a pessimist and skeptic whoperceived a cruel and unjust world, irrational,and hypocritical in its promises of humanprogress. Many experiences in his life wererecalled with much bitterness: as an infant, hismother fled with him to escape vindicatingRussians who were venting their hatred againstNapoleon with blind slaughter; his two childrenand young wife died early in his life; his motherdied the year before Il Trovatore; librettistCammarano died in the midst of writing thelibretto for Il Trovatore; and many of his noblesocial, and political ideals seemed to bedegenerating in fin du siecle Europe.

The characters in Il Trovatore representemotionally charged symbols of Verdi’spessimistic view an existential and hostileworld. The story possesses no redemptivevalues, but rather, a profound and dramaticallytruthful portrayal of irrational obsessions,intense emotions and passions, pathos, anddespair. All the characters suffer intensely:Manrico/Garzía is a lonely man, doomed to thecruelty of war but momentarily redeemedthrough Leonora’s love; he is executedwithout ever knowing his real identity.Leonora is unable to comprehend the hostilityand violence surrounding her: she sacrificesherself, preferring a martyred death ratherthan the lust-crazed di Luna. Di Luna isirrational and virtually insane in his insatiable

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lust for Leonora, the woman he tries topossess but cannot: he ultimately transformshis life into an obsession with hatred whichnurtures the story’s final horror and tragedy:killing his own brother.

The true tragic character in Il Trovatoreis Azucena, the woman of powerful irrationalpassions. She triggers the melodrama’s ultimatetragedy by killing the man who had indeedbecome her son; the son she could have savedby revealing to di Luna that he was indeed hisbrother. For Verdi, Azucena’s persona is theessence of the underlying story of IlTrovatore: she is the ultimate symbol of auniverse of cruel creatures; humanitypossessing destructive, irrational powers andpassions.

Il Trovatore is saturated with melodic vitality,energetic musical inventions, and an

explosion of eminently beautiful lyricism thatpossess a driving, propulsive quality. Theopera’s characterizations are sharp andcontrasting, and together with its super-chargedemotions, it swiftly speeds from climax toclimax.

In retrospect, Il Trovatore is a 150 year oldphenomenon whose impact remains uniqueand seemingly eternal in the world of Italianopera, an overwhelmingly popular andperennial favorite: of all of Verdi’s output, itwas the most loved opera in his own day.

At the time of Il Trovatore, RichardWagner’s theories of the Gesamtkunstwerk, theideal of the total artwork, began to infest theEuropean opera world. Those theoriesidealized opera as music drama, a goal thatcould be achieved through a synthesis andfusion of text, music, and all other art forms.As the second half of the 19th centuryunfolded, Wagner and his theories eventuallyrevolutionized the opera art form: his theories

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worked well for him; Verdi’s techniquesequally suited his own style as well as thoseof his audiences.

Verdi’s Il Trovatore is a score saturated withbel canto, “oom-pah-pah hit-parade” songs,“organ grinder” music, and many of itsaccompaniments locked to dance rhythms.Theoretically, Il Trovatore represents theantithesis of Wagnerism: it was the essence ofan intolerable Italianism in lyric drama, and thedevils were Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and,of course, Verdi; Wagner was obsessed torescue and redeem the world from theirartistic evil. Wagner introduced his musicdramas, the Ring cycle and Tristan andIsolde. After Il Trovatore, Verdi’s styleprogressed and matured to grander levels, andhis operas became more organically unifiedin terms of their musical and dramaticintegration. Likewise, the Italian opera schoolconceived its own music of the future: theverismo style of Mascagni, Leoncavallo, andPuccini.

Il Trovatore represents the end of aparticular era and genre of Italian opera: it isthe last of the great Italian Romanticmelodramas. However, it is a work whichevolved from early and mid-nineteenth centuryopera styles: it represents the sum andsubstance of Italian opera, because its focusis voice and song, essential ingredients thatwill survive until the whole structure of Italianopera will have disappeared. Verdi himselfwould eventually leave the Il Trovatore stylefar behind him and eloquently advance towardhis own indelible musico-dramaticism in hislast four operas: Don Carlo, Aïda, Otello andFalstaff. Nevertheless, his Il Trovatorecontinues to remain a jewel in his operaticcrown.

But the ultimate greatness of Il Trovatoreis that it reverently and piously follows thegreat Italian traditions in which the voice,

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song, and melody, remain the supreme focusof the opera. Verdi saturated this score withunforgettable musical gems, which seem tobecome brighter over time: Leonora’s Taceala notte, the Anvil Chorus, Azucena’s wildballad Stride la vampa, di Luna’s Il balen,Manrico’s Mal reggendo, and Di quella pira,and every note of the Tower Scene, Miserere,and the final Prison Scene. These musicalinventions represent a magnificent legacywhich become imbedded in the mind just asfamiliar sentences from literature becomecatch-phrases and proverbs.

Since Il Trovatore, new currents and trendshave arisen in opera, and there are certainlyvastly more intelligible and cohesive operadramas. Nevertheless, Il Trovatore is firmlyrooted to the opera stage; its devoted audiencescontinually hypnotized by the lyric splendorVerdi provided for his troubadour of Aliaferiawhose serenades and last addio seem tobecome engraved in memory not only afterthe curtain falls, but for eternity.

Il Trovatore is one of Verdi’s most supremelyrical masterpieces, a work without parallel inthe entire operatic canon: a late flowering ofthe great Italian romantic tradition. It issaturated with masterful melodic inventions,and lush and vividly beautiful music that arefused with powerful dramatic passion andpower. This virtually unique opera runs like athoroughbred, breaks out of the gate, andcharges to the finish line where all of itsromantic agony and Gothic horror unite inmagnificent and thunderous lyric splendor: IlTrovatore provides the sounds and furies oftowering passions. •

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