Scottish Opera

Scottish Opera performs Verdi’s full-blooded and monumental Il trovatore in a fiery production set to match the grandeur and drama of the music.

Conjuring up the spirit of the Dark Ages, a world rife with superstition and ignorance, this turbulent tale follows an atrocious chain of events set in motion by an accusation of witchcraft. The stark, brooding lines of the set combine with the atmospheric lighting to create a majestic and menacing backdrop for an impressive cast and chorus of 50.

When the infant son of Count di Luna falls ill after a visit from a gypsy woman, she is burned at the stake for witchcraft. Driven by vengeance, her daughter Azucena abducts the child intending to kill him, but, in her delirium, throws her own son onto the fire. Years later, she has brought the Count’s son up as her own and he and his elder brother, unaware of their relationship, are rivals for the beautiful Leonora. Jealousy, revenge, love and hate collide as the opera crashes towards its spectacular conclusion.

Il trovatore features some of the most extraordinary and rousing music ever written for opera which has the power to both engage the audience and ignite the senses. Verdi’s score is packed full of familiar melodies, from the exhilarating Anvil Chorus and Manrico’s energetic Di quella pira to the spine-tingling Miserere.