Baltimore Opera Company

Study Guide

Il Trovatore

The Story

Ferrando, Captain of the Guard, stands watch with other soldiers before the Aliaferia Place in Aragon, where the Count di Luna maintains his nightly vigil under the window of Leonora, with whom he is in love. At his friends' request Ferrando relates how, as an infant, the Count's brother was bewitched by a gypsy, then suddenly vanished ("Abbietta zingara"). A child, presumably the same one, was later found dead amid the ashes on the site where the old woman had been burned at the stake in punishment for her crime. The perpetrator of the gypsy's vengeance, he tells them, was her daughter, an evil woman about whom nothing has been heard since. As a clock strikes midnight, the soldiers disperse. Amid the beautiful gardens of the palace Leonora muses on an unknown troubadour whom she once crowned victorious at a tournament and who subsequently came to serenade her ("Tacea la notte placida"). Inez, her companion, expresses misgivings, but Leonora is ready to die for her mysterious suitor if she cannot be with him. As they go into the palace Di Luna appears, and shortly after Manrico, the troubadour, enters the garden to serenade Leonora ("Deserto sulla terra"). Mistaking Di Luna for Manrico in the darkness, Leonora rushes toward the Count. She suddenly realizes her error and declares her love for Manrico in front of the envious Count. Livid with jealousy, the Count threatens the troubadour with death, Manrico vows to kills the Count, and Leonora asks for the Count's revenge to fall upon herself rather than upon her lover.

Act Two takes place at dawn at a Gypsy camp in Biscay, where the gypsies are preparing to begin their daily work ("Chi del gitano i giorni abbella?"). Azucena, allegedly the mother of Manrico, who rests nearby, sings a ballad ("Stride la vampa") that suggests the story told earlier by Ferrando. After the others have gone, Azucena tells Manrico of her mother's death at the stake and how, in revenge, she had thrown a child into the fire, mistakenly believing it to the son of the Old Count ("Condotta all'era in ceppi"). The child was actually her own. Azucena reared Manrico in his place, and, she reminds him, only recently rescued him from a battlefield where he has almost met his death by Di Luna's hand. Manrico imparts how, in that duel, a strange force kept him from taking the Count's life ("Mal reggendo"). As Azucena and Manrico pledge to carry out their vengeance upon Di Luna, a messenger arrives to inform Manrico that he is ordered by the Prince of Biscay to defend the fortress of Castellor, and that Leonora, believing him dead, is about to enter a convent. Azucena begs Manrico not to go, but the adamant Troubadour follows the messenger.

The scene changes to a convent near Castellor, where Ferrando and a group of soldiers wait to abduct Leonora before she can take her vows. The Count muses on Leonora's beauty that has caused a tempest in his heart ("Il balen del suo sorriso"). Leonora appears, but the Count's plan is foiled by the unexpected arrival of Manrico. In spite of Di Luna's desperate protests, Leonora, overjoyed at their reunion, leaves with Manrico.

Act Three takes place at the Count Di Luna's camp where the soldiers anticipate besieging Castellor ("Squilli, echeggi la tromba guerriera"), while Di Luna only thinks of Leonora in the arms of his enemy. Ferrando reports that a gypsy woman has been taken prisoner in the vicinity of the camp. Azucena is brought in and explains that she is searching for her son. When she learns that her interrogator is Di Luna, she betrays her identity and confirms his suspicions that she was responsible for the abduction of his infant brother ("Giorni poveri vivea"). Led to believe that she is Manrico's mother by Azucena herself, Di Luna decides to use the gypsy as a pawn in his plan to avenge his brother and reclaim Leonora.

Inside the fortress of Castellor, Manrico tries to calm Leonora's fears of the imminent capture of the castle ("Ah sì, ben mio"). Ruiz rushes in to tell Manrico that Azucena has been taken prisoner by the Count and is about to be burned at the stake. Asserting that he was the Gypsy's son before he was Leonora's lover, Manrico leaves to rescue his mother ("Di quella pira!").

Act Four takes place on the ramparts of the Aliaferia Place, where Manrico is held prisoner by the Count. Leonora pledges her love ("D'amor sull'ali rosee"), hoping he will hear her voice through the window in his cell. A foreboding chorus ("Miserere d'un'alma già vicina") suggests to her that Manrico will be put to death shortly, and she hears her lover's voice bidding her farewell. Di Luna appears, telling his retainers that Azucena and Manrico must die at dawn. Leonora begs him in vain to show mercy, offering herself to him in exchange for her lovers' life ("Mira, d'acerba lagrime"). Rejoicing that she has saved Manrico's life, she takes a poison that will gradually take effect. The Count is overjoyed at his fortune, and forces Leonora to swear that she now belongs to him.

In a prison cell, Azucena envisions herself dying at the stake like her mother. Manrico urges her to rest, remembering their home in the mountains ("Ai nostri monti"). Leonora enters and tells Manrico to flee, although she must stay behind. The Troubadour assumes she has promised to love his rival in exchange for his freedom, and denounces Leonora. In her despondence she tells him that she has taken poison, and as it takes affect, she bids him farewell. The Count arrives and realizes that Leonora has deceived him; furious, he orders Manrico beheaded at once. Azucena awakens and asks for her son. He is about to die, Di Luna tells her. The gypsy tries to stop the Count, but it is too late, and she informs him that he has killed his own brother. As Di Luna realizes his horrible mistake, Azucena cries that her mother's death is avenged.

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