Il Trovatore Notes:

General:
Librettist: Salvadore Cammarano and Leone Emanuele Bardare
Date: January 1853
Theatre and City: Teatro Apollo, Rome

Source Material: El trovador
Source Material Author: Antonio Garca Gutirrez
Source Material Date: 1836

Issues of Innovation:
Its sheer bleakness was on a new scale for tragic opera:
o The two lovers both die and it seems there is not one character
who ends happy.
o Spoke to the audience as a type of truth of the times
2 Strong Female Roles:
Storyline was extremely new and innovative:
o Use of past and present (two storylines playing out at the same
time).
o Past: the death of Azucenas mum and her mistaken revenge in
killing her own son
o Present: The war between Manrico (and the gypies) and Il Conte
di Luna.
Lack of Overture:
o Verdi wanted to actually begin the opera in scene 2 but
Cammarano insisted on having the first scene with Ferrando
explaining a bit of the backstory to the plot.
The opera would probably have suffered without it.
More extensive use of offstage singing:
o Developing on from Rigoletto
o Eg. Manricos entrance after Leonoras Tacea la notte hears him
singing the troubadour song offstage.
o Eg. The miserere tempo di mezzo in Leonoras Act III aria has
manrico, once again, singing the troubadour song offstage with the
monk chorus (also offstage) singing the miserere.
Onstage percussive sounds being used in the music:
o Julian Budden: Striking of the anvils in Act IIs Anvil Chorus was
extremely new to the audience and made it a stand out moment of
the opera.
Provides a strong sense of the work the gipsys do and in
turn sets a very strong working feeling to contrast what is
about to come from Azucena and so enhancing it




Operatic Form:
REVERTING TO NORMAL FORMS, MANY CRITICS SUGGEST A
STEP BACK FROM RIGOLETTO.
Julian Budden: A very conventional libretto led to the need for a more
conventional musical structure but Verdi showed his distaste by
stretching them to their limits.
o Verdi asked for but didnt get new and bizzare forms in the
libretto.
Philip Friedheim- Suggestion that libretto functions as lots of separate
scenes with no clear dramatic line holding them all together- they each
function separately and do not carry the weight of the previous scene
through.
o Suggests this is the reason why Verdi found himself reverting to
more separate and small operatic forms to create the opera.
Julian Budden: Act II - Stride la vampa
o 1
st
movement stride la vampa
Is almost diagetic, a song that would be sung all the time.
Reminiscent of the first scene of Act 1, helps create the
contrast between the two stories that are talking about the
same occurrence from two different sides.
Hovers on a B which acts differently within chords of
Gmajor and E minor- it sticks around and feels like a
relentless yolk on Azucenas back.
o Tempo di mezzo:
Chorus leave, depressed but Azucena pays no notice.
Manrico demands to hear his grandmothers story, which
spurs Azucena into the 2
nd
movement of the double aria.
o 2
nd
Movement: ***- FIND NAME
Azucena picks up the story where Ferrando leaves off
The music and emotions her are juxtaposed in a bizzare
way. Not madness but sheer complexity and conflict within
the character.
Julian budden: ACT III - Manricos Aria:
o Movement 1: Ah si, ben mio adagio
Manrico is declaring his love for Leonora as they are about
to approach their wedding day.
There is a lot of imagery of death again, I will die for you
etc.
Contains a rising arpeggio motif in the orchestra, part of the
tinta of trovatore
o Tempo di mezzo:
Manrico and Leonora have a short arioso duet (20 bars)
that is the closest they get to a love duet.
Underpinned by an organ, creating the feeling of a
wedding and the ideals of religion and purity
The Ruiz comes in and tells Manrico that Azucena has been
captured and is going to be executed.
This tempo di mezzo has a lot of action in it and develops
the plot a lot more than a conventional tempo di mezzo
o Movement 2: Di quella pira
Manrico orders his men to help him save his mother.
Moves from Db C major (from Leonoras key to Azucenas
key), from long lyrical themes to short, rhythmic patterns
(Leonora Azucena).
Becomes a very big contrasting aria, this second movement
tears Manricos mind away from Leonora and to Azucena.
Top C put into the opera by the tenor Tamberick with
Verdis consent.
A very rousing second movement, that spoke to the people
of Italy as a sign of standing up against oppression.
HEROIC- REALLY CHARACTERISES MANRICO AS THE
HERO- giving up his happiness with Leonora for saving his
mother.
Julian Budden: Leonoras Double-aria:
o Movement 1- Damor sullale rose - cantabile
The aria begins with a soaring melody that rises high but
Leonoras lack of hope is painted in a dissolving melody at
the end.
o Tempo di mezzo (miserere)
This is a huge tempo di mezzo stretched to its extremes.
Have the monks praying offstage intertwined with
worrying comments by Leonora.
Manricos troubadour song is then heard offstage creating a
three way split in the action.
All are presented in succession and then combined to create
a very powerful scene.
Leonora is promising to always remember Manrico but this
scene gives her courage to do something about his
seemingly inevitable execution.
o Movement 2- tu vedrai che amor in terra - cabaletta
Leonora is rousing herself with a storng melody but sill a
minor key ritornello showing she cannot get away from the
tragedy

Vocality:
Azucena:
o Julian Budden: First significant role for a mezz-soprano in Verdi
opera.
Manrico:
Leonora:

Musics Articulation of Drama:

Source Material

Thematics:
Death:
o Again musical figure of death is used the anapaestic
rhytm
Eg. Played by whole orchestra in the miserere
anticipating the death of Leonora and Manrico who
are both featured in the tempo di mezzo.
o Death of azucenas mother and her son, conotations of
death for love that Leonora and Manrico constantly sing
about, eventual death of Leonora and then Manrico.
o Eg. 1
st
movement of Manricos aria.
o CENOSRSHIP OVER DEATH:
Cannot see Leonora take the poison, cannot talk
about dying at the stake
Infanticide:
o Potent- iItaly had the highest rate of infant abandonment
in Europe during 19
th
century.\
Had Il ruota aplace where you could abandon
kids anonymously.
o Influence of Giuseppina Strepponi:
She had 4 children and aboandoned the 2
nd
(the 3
rd

died
She called it our opera
Mother/son relationship:
Revolutionary theme politically charged (even in apoliticism)
o Roselli: most politically effective opera
Curses and vengeance
Narratives of the past (different versions)
Virility
Civil war

Staging and Performance:
Gap between Rigoletto and Trovatore longest since Nabucco (he
took time over it and Traviata)
Writing for ROME brought about a lot of CENSORSHIP ISSUES:
Julian Budden: Almost tried to dismiss writing the opera when
Cammarano was approaching it from too conservative a standpoint.
o Eg. Act 3 Manricos aria. Verdi wanted the second section to be a
duetina with Leonora but Cammarano turned it into the huge
double aria we know now.


Characterisation:
Manrico:
o is much more of a warrior than the men in previous
operas have been.
o Julian Budden: A heroic tenor that is drawn into the tonal worlds
of Azucena and Leonora.
o Note: Manricos Act III aria
Leonora:
o Julian Budden: Musical Properties of Leonora:
music is purely lyrical. Long phrases with an aspiring
quality.
Leonoras music is mainly in Ab major and relative keys
o Julian Budden: EG. Scene 2 Leonora Aria Tacea la notte
Andate: beautiful melody, slowly rising over 28 bars to a
Bb
This then repeats with minor key embellishments to
help emphasise the story
Tempo di mezzo: Ines suggests Leonora tries to forget the
troubadour
Allgero Giusto: di tale amor saying she will live and die
for Manrico
o Note: Leonoras Act 3 aria
Azucena:
o Verdi: Azucena is strange and new with two great passions
filial love and maternal love.
o Verdi in letter to Cammarano: Azucena is NOT MAD! She is
conflicted: love for Manrico, avenging her mother. The death is a
conclusion to this conflict and that explains the burst of an
exclamation O mother, you are avenged.
o Julian Budden:
Verdi originally wanted Azucena to be the lead woman and
the show to be called La gitana
the only real character that has proper depth to her.
o Julian Budden: Azucena is characterized before she is even on
stage when Ferrando is describing her in scene 1
Music is in with primitive and abrupt melodic lines with
gypsy-like grace notes. (pg 73 for music example)
o Julian Budden: Musical properties of Azucena
abrupt. Short phrases, common melody and repetitious and
strident rhythms
music mainly in E minor (when recalling death) and G
major (when singing of love for Manrico).
o Julian Budden: The end leaves us with questions about Azucena
and whether she is good or not.
o Note: Azucenas Act II Aria.

CRITICAL RECEPTION:
MOST DERIDED OPERA AND YET MOST POPULAR:
o Ludicrous and incomprehensible plot, even for the first audiences.
o George Bernard Shaw: Opera would fail unless performed
perfectly.
o 230 productions in first 3 years.
Edward Dannreuther
o Says the opera had backslided into vulgarity after the advances of
Rigoletto.
Alberto Mazzucato (in Gazzetta musicale di Millano):
o Azucena is a semi-impossible character
Why doesnt she burn the Counts son after her own?
Why then if she has affection for the son does she celebrate
his death at the end?
Sees her as mad!