Der Troubadour

Count Luna and the troubadour Manrico are not only enemies in a bloody civil war, but both love Leonora - a constellation that leads to the abyss: Leonora poisons herself, Manrico is executed by Luna, who then learns that he has killed his own brother, who was thought to be missing. Manrico had grown up unrecognized with Azucena, who once had to watch old Count Luna burn her mother as a witch. In revenge, she kidnapped his younger son, but accidentally killed her own child.
A historical drama by Antonio García Gutiérrez, which tells this dark story of hate and love, jealousy and revenge on the backdrop of a succession dispute in 15th century Spanish Aragon, was the template for Il trovatore - a thriller that masterfully contains all the ingredients of Giuseppe Verdi's art.
Harsh contrasts meet breathtaking vocal brilliance, chamber drama-like scenes designed with the greatest psychological sophistication meet opulent tableaux.
The work's erratic dramaturgy, with its extremely advanced variation of suggestive musical images for the year of its premiere in 1853, is as torn as the world in which the action takes place.
In a world destroyed by fire, director Wolfgang Nägele presents Il trovatore as a story about trauma, extreme emotional situations and fantasies of power in the midst of a society deeply unsettled by war and violence.