Il Trovatore, Verdi – Opera – Live

This opera will be available in France and Germany from February 15, 2015.

A true gem of the operatic repertoire, Il Trovatore is one of Verdi's most beloved masterpieces. With Rigoletto and La Traviata, Il Trovatore is part of the Trilogia popolare. The opera was premiered on January 19, 1853, at the Teatro Apollo in Rome. It immediately encountered great success, and during the following years, Verdi's Trovatore toured in the most prestigious opera house around Europe: Teatro alla Scala in Milan, La Fenice in Venice, the Théâtre de la comédie italienne and the Opéra national de Paris, Covent Garden in London, ...

The action takes place during the 15th century. A rumour says that years ago, a gypsy was wrongly accused to have bewitched the youngest of the Di Luna children, who had fallen sick. For the crime that she was accused of, the gypsy was burnt alive. At her death, she asked her daughter Azucena to avenge her, which she did by abducting the baby. Even though the count then found burnt bones in the pyre, he could never believe that his son was dead. He commanded his firstborn, the now count di Luna, to find Azucena... The plot is based on the four main characters: Azucena, the Count di Luna, Leonora (lady-in-waiting to the Princess, with whom the count is in love) and Manrico (the count's rival).

The world famous Russian soprano Anna Netrebko sings the role of Leonora, who inherited the opera's most famous arias, including "Tacea la notte," "D'amor sull'ali rosee" and "Di te! di te! Scordarmi di te!." She will be found singing next to Plácido Domingo (count di Luna), with whom she has already appeared several times (including as a flowermaiden in Tony Palmer's version of Parsifal). The Canadian mezzo-soprano Marie-Nicole Lemieux performs the part of Azucena and the young Francesco Meli will be Manrico.

Co-production with the Shanghai Grand Theatre.

Picture: Anna Netrebko and Plácido Domingo © Salzburger Festspiele / Forster.