|
|
Opera Music Plot Synopsis
Verdi: Il Trovatore
The action is set in the environs of Zaragoza, the capital
of the Kingdom of
Aragon, and in the mountains of Vizcaya (Biscay), around 1412.
Note: The story of Il Trovatore is often thought to be muddled
and confusing.
That is because it does not consist of a single plot, but
rather of three
separate, intertwining sub-plots. Because the three sub-plots
not only run
concurrently, but also involve many of the same characters,
a straightforward
linear recounting of the various narrations and events of
the opera with the
characters' motivations and reactions to them can indeed be
hard to comprehend
at first. The following is a synopsis in the strict sense
of the word: it
presents a description of the same events viewed in the context
of each of the
semi-independent threads of the story.
War
King Martin I of Aragon died 31 May, 1410, without heirs.
No fewer than seven
claimants to the vacant throne appeared, among whom were the
late king's nephew
Fernando de Antequera, son of the king of Castile, and Jaime
de Aragón, Count of
Urgel, son of Martin's first cousin and also husband of his
half-sister. After
some civil strife, Fernando was chosen king by the Aragonese
parliament on 28
June, 1412. [This is the historical background. The narrative
is fictitious.]
The Count of Urgel has raised a rebellion to press his claims
to the throne.
Among his commanders is Manrico, a gypsy from the mountains
of Vizcaya who has
become a knight of recognized valor and military prowess.
The leader of the
royal forces is the Count di Luna.
Manrico has risked his life to come to the royal palace of
Aliaferia, site of
the court of Aragon, on an amorous affair. Intercepted by
the Count di Luna, he
reveals his identity as the rebel commander, and the two prepare
to fight.
Manrico prevailed in their duel, and was on the point of slaying
the Count, when
a mysterious force stayed his hand, as he subsequently relates
to his mother,
Azucena. The two met again on the battlefield of Pelilla,
where Urgel's forces
were routed. Manrico alone bravely stood his ground, but was
cut down by the
Count di Luna and left for dead. Searching the field, Azucena
found him and
nursed him back to health. They have returned to their native
mountains, where
the gypsies lead a carefree existence. Azucena berates Manrico
for not having
killed the Count di Luna when he had a chance, and he swears
to do so if they
should meet again. The rebel soldier Ruiz arrives with a message:
the strategic
castle at Castellor has been seized by the rebels, and Manrico
has been ordered
to take command of its defence. Ignoring Azucena's pleas to
remain and warnings
that his wounds are still not healed, Manrico hurries off.
In a camp before Castellor, soldiers under the command of
the Count di Luna
await the attack on the castle. Reinforcements arrive, and
they look forward
eagerly to an easy victory and rich loot. Azucena, who has
come down from the
mountains in search of her son, is now brought before the
Count di Luna: she had
been found wandering near the camp and taken prisoner. Recognizing
in her the
mother of his hated enemy, the Count exults in the punishment
he will wreak on
her. In the castle, Manrico hears of her capture and rushes
out to save his
mother, or to die in the attempt.
Manrico has been vanquished and captured. He and his mother
both lie imprisoned
in a tower of the royal castle Aliaferia, awaiting death.
Manrico comforts
Azucena; they recall the peace and happiness of their mountains.
At last she
falls asleep. The Count arrives and orders Manrico off to
be beheaded. He drags
Azucena to the window to witness his triumph over his enemy.
Love
The Count di Luna is enamored of Leonora, a noble lady-in-waiting
to the Queen
of Aragon. He often spends entire nights beneath her balcony.
He fears a rival,
however, a troubadour who has been heard serenading her.
Leonora strolls with her confidante Ines in the gardens of
the palace of
Aliaferia by night. She vainly awaits the return of a troubadour
with whom she
has fallen in love. She describes their first meeting: how
an unknown knight in
black armor appeared at a tournament, how she bestowed on
him the victor's
wreath. Civil war broke out, and he disappeared; only her
memories of him
remained like a dream. Then one lovely night she heard from
her chamber the song
of a troubadour, and in his heartfelt verses she heard her
name repeated.
Running to her balcony, she saw that it was he! Since that
time she has known
only ecstacy and the intoxication of desire. To Ines' forebodings
and councils
to forget him, Leonora replies that she is destined for him:
if she cannot live
for him, she will die for him.
As Leonora and Ines retire to their rooms, the Count di Luna
arrives. Seeing the
light from her balcony, he approaches, intent on paying her
a visit; but he is
suddenly frozen by the distant sound of a lute- the troubadour!
As the
troubadour sings his serenade and the Count seethes with rage,
Leonora comes
running out of her apartment. In the darkness, she flies into
the arms of the
startled Count, declaring her love. As the troubadour cries
out at her
faithlessness, moonlight breaks through the clouds, revealing
a visored knight.
Recognizing him, and her error, Leonora throws herself at
the troubadour's feet,
swearing her love and loyalty. The Count furiously challenges
the troubadour to
reveal his identity, which he does: he is Manrico, a follower
of Urgel and
condemned traitor to the king. He has risked his life to appear
at the royal
palace. Leonora pleads with the Count to spare Manrico, but
his jealous fury
will not be stilled; contemptuously, Manrico defies him. The
two men prepare to
fight as the desperate Leonora collapses.
Manrico's mother Azucena, a gypsy, has been nursing her son
back to health from
wounds sustained in battle. Manrico tells her the story of
his duel with the
Count, and how he had spared the Count's life. The rebel soldier
Ruiz arrives
with a message: believing him killed in battle, Leonora has
determined to
renounce the world and take the veil in a convent that very
night. Ignoring
Azucena's pleas to remain and warnings that his wounds are
still not healed,
Manrico hurries off.
Aware of Leonora's plans, the Count di Luna arrives with his
followers at the
convent of the Holy Cross, near the castle of Castellor, where
Leonora plans to
take her vows. He is prepared to prevent Leonora from entering
the convent. He
hopes that the ardour of his love for her will win over her
heart at last, but
he is ready to seize her by force: he vows that not even God
shall keep her from
him. As the nuns are heard in the background, the Count and
his men conceal
themselves. Leonora arrives in the company of Ines and her
attendants. Leonora
bids farewell to her ladies, hoping that after a life of penance
she will be
reunited with Manrico in heaven. Suddenly the Count emerges
and bars her way:
only the wedding altar shall await her. The stunned Leonora
hardly has time to
remonstrate when Manrico himself, whom all had thought dead,
appears. Leonora
deliriously confides herself to Manrico, the Count threatens
him with death, and
Manrico taunts the Count. Soldiers of Manrico's now arrive
and quickly disarm
the Count and his own followers. Manrico departs with Leonora
for the castle,
and the women take refuge in the convent.
The Count di Luna, maddened by the thought of Leonora in the
arms of his rival,
plans an assault at dawn on the castle of Castellor. Azucena,
who has come down
from the mountains in search of her son, has been found wandering
near his
military encampment. She is brought before the Count di Luna
for questioning.
Recognizing in her the mother of his hated rival, the Count
exults in the
punishment he will wreak on her.
In the castle, Manrico and Leonora are preparing to wed. Ruiz
interrupts with
news of Azucena's capture. To the stunned Leonora, Manrico
confides that this
gypsy woman is his mother. Crying out that his filial devotion
takes precedence
over even his devotion Leonora, he rushes out to save his
mother, or to die in
the attempt.
Manrico has been vanquished and captured. He and his mother
both lie imprisoned
in a tower of Aliaferia, awaiting death. Leonora arrives at
the castle in the
company of Ruiz, determined to save her lover's life at any
cost. Leonora
dismisses Ruiz, telling him not to fear for her: she looks
significantly at a
ring on her finger. She prays that Manrico may be comforted
by her unseen
presence, and that he be spared the tortures that rack her
own heart. She is
terrified to hear the chant of monks praying for mercy on
the soul of the
condemned. Manrico's voice is heard from the tower as he sings
a farewell ballad
to Leonora. She swears that her love for him shall defy even
death.
Leonora conceals herself as the Count emerges from the palace.
His love for
Leonora is as strong as ever; he would even betray his duty
to the king for her.
When the castle was stormed she was nowhere to be found. As
he wonders where she
is she abruptly steps out and confronts him. His surprise
quickly turns to
jealous rage as she pleads for Manrico's life. She offers
to die in Manrico's
place, but her evident devotion only fans his anger. Leonora
then tries a
different tack: she offers herself to the Count in return
for Manrico's being
set free. The Count at first cannot believe his ears, but
she swears that if the
Count will let her into the prison to set Manrico free, she
will be his. The
Count consents. He instructs a guard to free Manrico; as he
is doing so Leonora
secretly swallows the poison she has concealed in her ring.
She will belong to
the Count, but as a corpse. The Count and Leonora exult, he
in his happiness to
have won Leonora, she to be giving her life to save Manrico.
In their dungeon, Manrico comforts Azucena; they recall the
peace and happiness
of their mountains. At last she falls asleep. Leonora arrives
and tells Manrico
he is free, bidding him to leave at once. When he discovers
that she cannot go
with him he gallantly refuses. Suddenly an awful thought occurs
to him: at what
price has Leonora purchased his freedom? Accusing her of having
betrayed their
love, he denounces and curses Leonora. Leonora is now succumbing
to the poison.
As she lies dying she confesses that she would rather die
Manrico's than live
another's. Manrico is beside himself at having cursed this
angel. The Count
appears and understands how he has been deceived. Furiously
he orders Manrico
off to be beheaded. He drags Azucena to the window to witness
his triumph over
his rival and enemy.
Revenge
Soldiers and servants of the Count di Luna drowsily await
his return to the
palace of Aliaferia from his vigil at Leonora's balcony late
one night. They ask
Ferrando, the captain of the guard, to tell them the story
of the Count's
brother, Garzia. He relates how the old Count had two sons,
the present Count
and a younger brother. One night the baby brother's nurse
awoke to discover an
old gypsy woman in the room, looking over the infant in his
cradle. The gypsy
wore symbols of sorcery, and the terrified nurse thought she
was casting an evil
spell on the baby. The gypsy protested that she was only casting
the baby's
horoscope, but she was immediately ejected from the palace.
The baby soon
sickened and lay near death. Convinced that the gypsy had
indeed bewitched him,
the people hunted her down and burned her at the stake. But
the gypsy woman had
a daughter who took a terrible revenge: the baby disappeared,
and not long
afterward the half-burnt skeleton of a child was discovered
on the still
smoldering embers where the old gypsy had been burned. The
broken-hearted old
Count nursed the hope that his second son still lived. Before
he died he bade
the present Count never to give up the search for his lost
brother. The daughter
of the old gypsy was never found, although Ferrando is sure
that even after all
these years he would recognize her immediately if he ever
saw her again. It is
believed that the old gypsy's ghost still haunts the palace,
and grisly stories
are told of her doings; at the sudden striking of the midnight
bell the
thoroughly frightened servants disperse in terror.
In the mountains of Vizcaya, a band of gypsies are gathered
round a large fire.
As dawn breaks they are forging metal trinkets, which they
soon go off to sell.
Azucena broods over the fire. She sings a ballad of a pitiful
woman being
dragged by a howling mob toward the flames. As the others
depart, Manrico, who
has been lying at her side, asks her to tell her the story
that inspired such a
sad song. She is surprised that he does not know the story
of his own
grandmother, but since boyhood ambition has led him to wander
far from his home.
She tells him how her mother was accused by a haughty Count
of having bewitched
his young son; how she was brought in chains to meet her doom
at this very spot;
how she herself followed, her own baby in her arms, weeping;
how her mother
tried to stop and bless her, but was viciously thrust upon
the stake. Her
mother's last words, in her death agony, were "Avenge
me!" Those words have ever
since echoed in her heart. Manrico asks if she was avenged.
Azucena replies that
she abducted the Count's son and brought him here, where the
fire still burned.
The baby cried piteously; her maternal feelings broke her
heart; suddenly a
horrible vision appeared: the killers; the torture; her mother
crying out
"Avenge me!" Blindly she siezed the victim in her
trembling hand and thrust it
on the fire. In an instant the vision was gone. Only the raging
flames remained,
consuming their prey; and there beside her was the son of
the wicked Count. It
was her own son she had cast into the fire! She shudders at
the recollection of
that moment; Manrico is horror-struck. Suddenly the thought
strikes him: who is
he, he wonders, if he is not her son? Azucena assures him
that he is indeed her
son, that the recollection of that awful event has brought
foolish words to her
lips. She has always cared for him with the tender love of
a mother. When she
recently heard news of his death in the battle of Pelilla,
she hastened to the
field to give him a proper burial, found yet a breath of life
in him, and
lovingly nursed him back to health. Manrico, recalling how
he received his
wounds from the evil Count di Luna, whose life he himself
had previously spared
in a duel, wonders now why he did so. The Count had fallen,
Manrico prepared to
thrust the sword through him, when his hand was mysteriously
stayed: he heard a
cry from heaven not to strike. Azucena says that the Count
did not hear the same
cry from heaven. She implores Manrico, if they should ever
fight again, to
plunge his sword to the hilt through the ingrate's heart,
and Manrico swears he
will do so. Urgent news now calls Manrico away. Azucena pleads
with him to
remain: his wounds are not yet fully healed, and he will reopen
them. His blood
is hers, and every drop he sheds is squeezed from her heart.
But he is consumed
with passion: heaven and earth cannot stop him from his mission.
Ignoring
Azucena's pleas, Manrico hurries off.
Azucena has come searching for Manrico. In Castellor she stumbles
onto a
military encampment, where the Count di Luna is preparing
an assult on the
castle. She is apprehended as a possible spy and brought before
the Count. To
his questions she replies evasively that as a gypsy she wanders
everywhere
freely. The Count asks where she came from, and she says the
mountains of
Vizcaya; her answer immediately raises suspicions in the minds
of the Count and
Ferrando. She tells how she has been wandering about, seeking
a son who had
abandoned her, a son who has cost her heart great grief: her
love for him is one
felt by no other mother on earth. The Count asks if she recalls
a Count's child,
stolen from the castle over 15 years ago. She asks the Count
who he is: he
replies, the brother of the stolen child. She cries out, and
Ferrando realizes
that she is the one who burned the child. Wildy she denies
the accusation. The
Count tells her that she will not escape her fate. Desperately,
she cries out
for her son, Manrico, to come to her aid. Recognizing in her
now the mother of
his enemy and his hated rival, as well as the killer of his
brother, the Count
exults in the punishment he will wreak on her.
In the castle of Castellor, Manrico hears of Azucena's capture:
at the window he
sees a pyre already lit. The horrible blaze enflames him:
he will quench it with
the blood of her tormenters. He rushes out to save his mother,
or to die in the
attempt.
Manrico and Azucena both lie imprisoned in Aliaferia, awaiting
death. Azucena is
maddened by visions of her mother's tortured death at the
stake, of her own
impending doom. Manrico comforts Azucena; they recall the
peace and happiness of
their mountains. At last she falls asleep. The Count arrives
and orders Manrico
off to be beheaded. Azucena begs him to stop. He drags her
to the window to
witness his triumph over his rival and enemy. "He was
your brother!" she cries;
"Mother, you are avenged!"
synopsis copyright Richard S. Bogart, 1997
|
|
|
