It seems to be one of the rules of literature that poets die as dramatically as possible, but few operas make that rule more awesome than "Il Trovatore" (The Troubadour). This one's a smorgasbord of catchy dramatic melodies and is home to some very lovable villains and showstopping hero-types, who are all tied together by one of the blackest and most powerful forces of human nature.
"M" is for "Morbid Mama"
Verdi liked his baddies, and one of them he liked so much that he wanted to name after her the opera she appears in. What made her so appealing? A past, a mistake, and a vendetta. Her name is Azucena (pronounced ah-tsoo-chenn-ah, in case it's as puzzling to you as it was at first to me. I called her A.Z. for about three months.) daughter of a stew-in-the-potion-free-pot gal burned at the stake by the di Luna family for bewitching one of their children which, in a Connecticut vs. Rebecca Elson twist (shocker, shocker), she didn't do. Azucena lives out the years with a view to picking her moment for revenge, which her poor ma specified the conditions of just before exhaling her final breath on the pyre. Intrigued? Well, Verdi only didn't end up calling "Il Trovatore" "Azucena" because the guy who wrote the story for him said the decision seemed a little too traditional. Like, okay, you know what? Wait... Wait... Let's not do this here, not before the story's finished. Manrico is the troubadour of the show, who is actually a knight, who is Azucena's adopted son. Yes, her ADOPTED son. Oh, this is good. This is good. He's in love with Leonora, which is mainly important because some of the best music in the opera is written for her. Of course, she's in love with him, too. Everyone's into the knights, after all. Their relationship is a problem because one of the di Lunas, with whom Manrico has been playing Medieval War, is also in love with the girl, which is kinda surprising considering how big a shmuck the guy is. Some villains are like jawbreakers with gooey centers, I guess. The Romantic Era... Anyway, a couple of battles and a visit to a convent later, Manrico and mama wind up in prison together, Manrico as a captive of war and a Count's jealousy, Azucena as a long hunted and finally discovered criminal (ah, the perks of being related to the falsely accused). Di Luna has forced Leonora into a marriage agreement, so she comes to rescue Manrico, her system ravaged by a little bottle of herbal no-nos. He believes she's turned her back on him, because that's the way things go, until he realizes she's dying (WHY???? WHY IS THIS WHAT WE CRAZIES LOVE???) and takes her in his arms. Di Luna walks in just as, before fading away, she sighs, "I would die rather than live as another's." Immediately, he orders Manrico's execution, and Azucena's moment comes. Right after he's killed, she stands up and screams to the Count, "He was your brother!" Then, she throws her head back and delivers the climactic line: "You are avenged, mother!" So, I think I've defined "must-see."
Pro Screamer Paradise
It's been said that all a performance of "Il Trovatore" needs in order to be successful are the four greatest singers in the world. This is the stuff that opera stars live for. Azucena is, needless to say, one of the most striking mezzo parts in opera, with her tight, grim, and plummeting songs, including "Stride la Vampa" (Screeches the Blaze!), which includes some of the lower notes a mezzo can get to and shows pretty much every quality of her character. Leonora is one of the dream parts for sopranos, who have to give all they've got to sing it right. When they do, it, being everything an opera freak wants to hear in a soprano part and, therefore, the most difficult one that Verdi composed, catapults them to fame. The tenor part is equally as hard and equally as exciting. "Di Quella Pira" is one of the most famous arias for tenor ever sung, a showstopper that has become the calling card for many of the most acclaimed tenors in history. The male chorus it includes only makes it cooler. Count di Luna is one of the baritone sweets. It's power at a nuclear volume all the way through, no breaks for soft notes. Some people think opera is mostly about pretty singing, but Verdi required more of his performers than notes polished by Windex (which wasn't around in 1853, anyway), as you've read in "Artist Apprezz," and when his music is played according to his specifications, it's like nothing else one can hear.
Plucked from the "Hot Ten"
"Il Trovatore" is one of the most famous and most popular operas in the world, and if after reading this you're thinking about seeing it (I hope you are) you have a lot of stuff to choose from. I'm talking CD recordings, upcoming performances, and whole nights of Verdi's instant triumph (That's right! The first performance was a smash hit!) captured on DVD. I haven't before recommended recordings on this blog, which I'm very ashamed to have noticed, but if you can get ahold of Maria Callas's studio 1957 recording with Giuseppe di Stefano, conducted by Herbert von Karajan (He's an important one, and you'll find out why in my first article on a conductor next week in "Artist Apprezz.") I highly recommend that you do. Or, you can pick up the DVD recording with Sondra Radvanovsky, Marcello Alvarez, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Certainly, there are other acclaimed recordings of this, one of Verdi's ten great masterpieces, but if you really want all it's got, you can't go wrong with these. The Metropolitan Opera has planned performances of "Il Trovatore" on February 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 13th of 2016, the last of which will be broadcast on Met Opera Radio.
If this is your first time with Giuseppe Verdi, I hope it won't be your last. The genius of the greatest Italian opera composer the world has ever known has inspired composers for over a century, and it's certainly been a thrill to us crazies who just will never have enough of the striking drama and decibels of opera's legendary miracle workers. Thanks for reading, my friends, and I hope you come back next week for another exciting feature on Everyone's Opera. Check out the site's Facebook page for tons of Verdian video content. Happy operatic insanity! Ciao!
"M" is for "Morbid Mama"
Verdi liked his baddies, and one of them he liked so much that he wanted to name after her the opera she appears in. What made her so appealing? A past, a mistake, and a vendetta. Her name is Azucena (pronounced ah-tsoo-chenn-ah, in case it's as puzzling to you as it was at first to me. I called her A.Z. for about three months.) daughter of a stew-in-the-potion-free-pot gal burned at the stake by the di Luna family for bewitching one of their children which, in a Connecticut vs. Rebecca Elson twist (shocker, shocker), she didn't do. Azucena lives out the years with a view to picking her moment for revenge, which her poor ma specified the conditions of just before exhaling her final breath on the pyre. Intrigued? Well, Verdi only didn't end up calling "Il Trovatore" "Azucena" because the guy who wrote the story for him said the decision seemed a little too traditional. Like, okay, you know what? Wait... Wait... Let's not do this here, not before the story's finished. Manrico is the troubadour of the show, who is actually a knight, who is Azucena's adopted son. Yes, her ADOPTED son. Oh, this is good. This is good. He's in love with Leonora, which is mainly important because some of the best music in the opera is written for her. Of course, she's in love with him, too. Everyone's into the knights, after all. Their relationship is a problem because one of the di Lunas, with whom Manrico has been playing Medieval War, is also in love with the girl, which is kinda surprising considering how big a shmuck the guy is. Some villains are like jawbreakers with gooey centers, I guess. The Romantic Era... Anyway, a couple of battles and a visit to a convent later, Manrico and mama wind up in prison together, Manrico as a captive of war and a Count's jealousy, Azucena as a long hunted and finally discovered criminal (ah, the perks of being related to the falsely accused). Di Luna has forced Leonora into a marriage agreement, so she comes to rescue Manrico, her system ravaged by a little bottle of herbal no-nos. He believes she's turned her back on him, because that's the way things go, until he realizes she's dying (WHY???? WHY IS THIS WHAT WE CRAZIES LOVE???) and takes her in his arms. Di Luna walks in just as, before fading away, she sighs, "I would die rather than live as another's." Immediately, he orders Manrico's execution, and Azucena's moment comes. Right after he's killed, she stands up and screams to the Count, "He was your brother!" Then, she throws her head back and delivers the climactic line: "You are avenged, mother!" So, I think I've defined "must-see."
Pro Screamer Paradise
It's been said that all a performance of "Il Trovatore" needs in order to be successful are the four greatest singers in the world. This is the stuff that opera stars live for. Azucena is, needless to say, one of the most striking mezzo parts in opera, with her tight, grim, and plummeting songs, including "Stride la Vampa" (Screeches the Blaze!), which includes some of the lower notes a mezzo can get to and shows pretty much every quality of her character. Leonora is one of the dream parts for sopranos, who have to give all they've got to sing it right. When they do, it, being everything an opera freak wants to hear in a soprano part and, therefore, the most difficult one that Verdi composed, catapults them to fame. The tenor part is equally as hard and equally as exciting. "Di Quella Pira" is one of the most famous arias for tenor ever sung, a showstopper that has become the calling card for many of the most acclaimed tenors in history. The male chorus it includes only makes it cooler. Count di Luna is one of the baritone sweets. It's power at a nuclear volume all the way through, no breaks for soft notes. Some people think opera is mostly about pretty singing, but Verdi required more of his performers than notes polished by Windex (which wasn't around in 1853, anyway), as you've read in "Artist Apprezz," and when his music is played according to his specifications, it's like nothing else one can hear.
Plucked from the "Hot Ten"
"Il Trovatore" is one of the most famous and most popular operas in the world, and if after reading this you're thinking about seeing it (I hope you are) you have a lot of stuff to choose from. I'm talking CD recordings, upcoming performances, and whole nights of Verdi's instant triumph (That's right! The first performance was a smash hit!) captured on DVD. I haven't before recommended recordings on this blog, which I'm very ashamed to have noticed, but if you can get ahold of Maria Callas's studio 1957 recording with Giuseppe di Stefano, conducted by Herbert von Karajan (He's an important one, and you'll find out why in my first article on a conductor next week in "Artist Apprezz.") I highly recommend that you do. Or, you can pick up the DVD recording with Sondra Radvanovsky, Marcello Alvarez, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Certainly, there are other acclaimed recordings of this, one of Verdi's ten great masterpieces, but if you really want all it's got, you can't go wrong with these. The Metropolitan Opera has planned performances of "Il Trovatore" on February 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 13th of 2016, the last of which will be broadcast on Met Opera Radio.
If this is your first time with Giuseppe Verdi, I hope it won't be your last. The genius of the greatest Italian opera composer the world has ever known has inspired composers for over a century, and it's certainly been a thrill to us crazies who just will never have enough of the striking drama and decibels of opera's legendary miracle workers. Thanks for reading, my friends, and I hope you come back next week for another exciting feature on Everyone's Opera. Check out the site's Facebook page for tons of Verdian video content. Happy operatic insanity! Ciao!
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