The Troubadour by Verdi, From (2024/2024), Directed by Neeme Kuningas, Conductor Arvo Volmer, Kaspar Mänd, Estonian National Opera, Tallinn, Estonia

“Il trovatore” captures the heart of anyone who loves a good story, great melodies, fantastic voices and big choruses. The “Anvil Chorus,” Azucena’s “Stride la vampa” and Manrico’s stirring call to arms “Di quella pira” are just a few of the fabulous highlights that the opera offers. Verdi’s passionate melodrama thrills with swift action, intense pathos, and numerous moments of dazzling singing. “Il trovatore” is the second of the great trio of mature, middle-period Verdi masterpieces, which cemented Verdi’s reputation as the greatest Italian composer of his time. Preceded by “Rigoletto” (1851) and followed by “La traviata” (1853), this opera demonstrated Verdi’s ability to find the perfect melody to express the deepest emotions of his characters desperate for love, and emotionally strapped by circumstance.