Der Troubadour by Verdi, So. 16 Okt. 2022, Ab (2022/2022), Unter der Regie von Adele Thomas,, Dirigat Paolo Carignani, Opernhaus, Zürich, Schweiz

The fact that the libretto for Verdi’s Trovatore is one of the most criticized opera texts in the entire repertoire never seems to detract from opera’s enduring popularity. Verdi’s unbridled melodic inventiveness, a musical dramaturgy based on sharp contrasts, and the brilliance of the vocal parts that fascinate opera audiences. Anja Harteros returns to Zurich as Leonora for the revival of this opera, which is rich in dramatic peaks. Harteros is hailed for her intense stage presence and is one of the most sought-after Verdi interpreters worldwide. Her partner on stage is Stefano La Colla, who recently sang Manrico at the Staatsoper Berlin to great acclaim. His adversary Count Luna is the accomplished Verdi baritone Artur Ruciński. Azucena, the opera’s true main figure and the focus of director Adele Thomas’ visually stunning production, is played by Russian mezzo-soprano Yulia Matochkina. Paolo Carignani serves up the requisite Italianità on the podium of the Philharmonia Zurich. As in La traviata and Rigoletto – the other two operas of the so-called trilogia popolare, which established Verdi's worldwide fame – Trovatore also has a social outcast at the center of its story. Here, it is Azucena, whose insatiable thirst for revenge runs like a thread through the erratic plot. She once had to watch her mother burned alive at the stake. Torn apart by the pain of this injustice, she kidnapped the son of the family responsible for the death of her mother, an alleged witch, in order to see him die by the fire as well. What only Azucena knows, however, is that the child she threw into the flames in blind despair was her own son. Manrico, who grew up with her and thinks he is her son, is in fact the brother of the hated Count Luna. Now Count Luna and Manrico, the «Troubadour» of the title, fight one another on different sides in a civil war. But they are also rivals in love, for they both desire the same woman: Leonora...