Making Sense of Il trovatore

Il trovatore is based on an 1836 verse drama by Spanish playwright Antonio García Gutiérrez. The opera is sublime, but its plot is notoriously complicated, mostly because so many important events happen before the curtain even goes up. Audiences have to piece together the tragic backstory and work out how it fits into the political struggles and romantic entanglements unfolding onstage. But a little prep work goes a long way—brush up on the plot with this handy guide!  

What’s a troubadour? 

Trovatore means “troubadour” in Italian. The rockstars of the Middle Ages, troubadours emerged in Southern France during the 12th century and soon spread to Spain, where the opera takes place. Often of noble or knightly background, they wrote and performed songs of courtly love. They’re typically shown playing the lute in popular depictions (including Il trovatore), but historians believe it’s more likely they accompanied themselves on fiddle. 

Who’s fighting?  

Though the characters are fictional, they are participating in a real civil war that raged in the Spanish Kingdom of Aragon during the early 15th century. Believing he had a rightful claim to the throne, the Count of Urgel led a rebellion against King Ferdinand I in 1413. In Verdi’s opera, Count di Luna is a royalist supporter of Ferdinand, while Manrico is part of Urgel’s (ultimately unsuccessful) uprising. For HGO’s updated production, director Stephen Wadsworth has reimagined this conflict as a turf war in a contemporary European metropolis.  

What’s going on?