Passionate bel canto of love and tragedy—VERDI's immortal classic set ablaze.

The more sinister, the more magnificent; the harder to sing, the more thrilling: The Exhilarating Il trovatore

Il trovatore, along with La traviata (written concurrently) and the slightly earlier Rigoletto, forms the triumphant trio of VERDI's middle-period operas. The composer's confident prediction — "If you go to Africa, you will surely hear Il trovatore" — proved prophetic. A sensation from its very first rehearsal, the opera's vocal scores spread rapidly across the globe. It remains a theater staple, performed continuously across time and distance. Its famous arias and duets are widely beloved, and the "Anvil Chorus" from Act II has become a fixture in popular culture, appearing in films, television, radio advertisements, and even sporting events — cementing its place among the most recognizable works in the classical canon.

This success was no accident. After rising to fame with his third opera, Nabucco, VERDI wrote twelve operas in nine years. While such relentless output couldn't guarantee quality, it gave this gifted and disciplined composer an extraordinary wealth of experience. He mastered the art of drawing from Romantic literature, steering away from the well-worn paths of traditional Italian opera and broadening his structural palette. Vocally, VERDI pushed the baritone and mezzo-soprano to new extremes — higher highs and lower lows — demanding greater power, menace, and seduction, and setting them in dramatic rivalry against the tenor and soprano. Though his characters' emotions are broadly drawn, revolving around love, hatred, honor, loyalty, and longing, and rarely develop as individuals, VERDI more than compensated for the weakness with music of fierce energy and momentum, crafting a thrilling vocal spectacle.

Il trovatore is the perfect embodiment of this approach. Its plot is steeped in Romantic Gothic atmosphere: the opera opens in a night thick with unease and dark legend, then plunges headlong into brawls, vengeance, attempted assault, and death. The story unfolds in fragments — a troubadour caught in fraternal enmity, a love triangle shadowed by a witch's curse — and demands close attention from the audience, who must piece together from the libretto the full horror of a mystery spanning two generations. The stage settings are correspondingly rich and varied: a haunted palace, a fortified castle, a shadowy dungeon, a Gypsy campfire, a convent cloister, an interrupted wedding, and a scaffold awaiting its victims. All of it is utterly mesmerizing. Whatever it may lack in historical accuracy or literary depth, Il trovatore is a seamless fusion of music and Romanticism that electrifies the senses from first note to last — and who could ask for more than that?

Even more astonishing than the visual spectacle, of course, is VERDI's music. Soloists must summon every ounce of their skill and push themselves to the limit to meet his demands. The heroine Leonora calls for the most complete bel canto technique, making her one of the most challenging and rewarding roles in all of opera; her entrance aria alone is a formidable test, followed by a succession of difficult solos and ensembles. The hero Manrico is at heart a lyric poet who, by the imperatives of Italian dramatic tradition, must transform into a powerful dramatic tenor capable of visceral impact; his "Di quella pira" ("See that dreadful flame") remains the eternal nightmare of tenors. Yet as the legendary CARUSO rightly observed: "To succeed with Il trovatore, you need four great singers." The Gypsy sorceress Azucena — Manrico's mother — is effectively the opera's second female lead, a status VERDI himself acknowledged by considering naming the opera after her. She delivers the most sinister and chilling imprecations through the most magnificent and seductive vocal writing, making her utterly unforgettable. And as for the ruthless, implacable Count di Luna — the most ferocious baritone role in the Italian opera repertoire — watching him unleash his attacks and whip up a musical tempest leaves no one unmoved.

To take on this classic, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) will once again collaborate with the stage director and set designer behind the 2024 production of Manon Lescaut. Drawing on the visual language of Game of Thrones, they will deploy family banners and roaring flames to conjure a visually striking medieval world, giving full expression to the libretto and score's distinctive dark aesthetics. With a cast of top-tier musicians from Taiwan and abroad, this production promises to be an experience like no other. We invite you to join us and discover for yourself the immortal power of VERDI's masterpiece — the eternal Il trovatore. (Written by CHIAO Yuan-pu)

  Pre-talk  

2026/9/3(Thu)19:00 Opera House 2F Lobby

2026/9/4(Fri)19:00 Opera House 2F Lobby

2026/9/5(Sat)14:00 Opera House 2F Lobby

2026/9/6(Sun)14:00 Opera House 2F Lobby

  Creative and Production Team  

Conductor｜CHIEN Wen-pin

Stage Director｜Pier Francesco MAESTRINI

Set Designer｜Nicolas BONI

Video Designer｜Ethan WANG

Costume Designer｜Jeffy CHEAH

Lighting Designer｜Faye HUANG

Il Conte di Luna｜JUNG Ilhun (Sep 3 & 5), Rodrigo ESTEVES (Sep 4 & 6)

Leonora｜KENG Li (Sep 3 & 5), Marta MARI (Sep 4 & 6)

Azucena｜WENG Jo-pei (Sep 3 & 5), Chiara MOGINI (Sep 4 & 6)

Manrico｜George ONIANI (Sep 3 & 5), to be announced (Sep 4 & 6)

Ferrando｜HSIEH Ming-mou

Ines｜LIN Wen-hua

Ruiz / Un messo｜CHANG Yin-chi

Orchestra｜National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra

Chorus｜Planetesimal Vocal Art Studio

Official Timepiece of WEIWUYING

  Co-sponsor  

  Cultural Development Partner