Il trovatore

Verdi's thriller combusts with fiery melodrama and unforgettable music, including the Anvil Chorus. A gypsy, mad with fury, kills her own son by mistake instead of her enemy's. Remorseful, she raises his child as her own, until destinies and quests for revenge collide. This Minnesota Opera production of Il trovatore (The Troubadour), not seen here since 1994, is set in high Renaissance Spain and directed by Kevin Newbury.

Run time is approx. 2 hours 35 minutes, with one intermission.

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Dates + Performances

PART ONE – THE DUEL

Scene one – A vestibule in the Aliaferia Palace  Ferrando, captain of the guards, orders his men to watch over Count di Luna, who, smitten with Leonora, has been visiting her window at night. To keep the guards awake, Ferrando tells the story of Garzia, the count’s younger brother. Years ago, an old gypsy bewitched the young Garzia, who fell ill. The gypsy was hunted down and burned at the stake; dying, she ordered her daughter Azucena to avenge her. The younger brother vanished, and when a small charred skeleton was found in the ashes, all suspected that Azucena had wrought vengeance. The old count could not believe that Garzia was dead; dying of grief, he urged the young Count di Luna to search for his brother, and exact revenge upon Azucena. 

Ferrando tells how he could never forget Azucena’s face, and how, since her death, the gypsy’s ghost has haunted those who murdered her in the guise of an animal, owl or vampire.

Scene two – The palace gardens outside Leonora's room  Though her mistress has requested her, Leonora delays, hoping the mysterious black knight (Manrico) will appear. Leonora tells of how she first saw him at a tournament, and how he has since visited, singing as a troubadour outside her window. Ines urges caution, but Leonora is in love.

Count di Luna, waiting in the garden for a chance to declare his love to Leonora, hesitates when he hears Manrico singing a love song. In the darkness, Leonora mistakes the count for her lover. Di Luna recognizes Manrico as his enemy, a follower of the rebellious Count Urgel, and challenges him to duel at dawn, over Leonora's protestations.

PART TWO – THE GYPSY

Scene one – A hovel in the Biscay mountains  As the gypsies return to their metalworking, Azucena remembers the horrific burning of her own mother, and desires vengeance. She confesses to Manrico that, after stealing Garzia, she had intended to burn him, but had thrown her own child into the flames by mistake. If his mother accidentally killed her own son, Manrico asks, then who is he? Realizing she has said too much, Azucena asserts her motherly love, recalling how she had nursed him back to health after he was injured in battle.

Manrico tells Azucena how he defeated di Luna in their duel, but was prevented from killing him by a mysterious force. A messenger enters with news that Urgel’s forces are on the move, and that Leonora, believing Manrico dead, intends to enter a convent. Manrico rushes off to stop her.

Scene  two – A cloister near Castellor  Di Luna, intending to abduct Leonora before she takes holy orders, sings of his love for her. As the nuns appear, Manrico arrives, disarms di Luna and takes Leonora away.

PART THREE – THE GYPSY'S SON

Scene one – Count di Luna's encampment near Castellor  As Ferrando and the count’s men draw up battle plans, a gypsy woman (Azucena) is captured nearby. Ferrando recognizes Azucena as the old gypsy’s daughter. In a panic, she reveals that Manrico is her son, and di Luna realizes she is a valuable hostage.

Scene two – A chapel inside Castellor  On the eve of war, Manrico and Leonora stand before the altar. Before they can marry, Manrico's comrade Ruiz brings news of Azucena's imminent execution. Manrico hurries to save his mother.

PART FOUR – THE TORTURE

Scene two – A grim prison  Awaiting their executions, Manrico tries to soothe Azucena, who relives the horror of her own mother's death. Leonora arrives and reveals her bargain with di Luna, begging Manrico to flee. Manrico refuses, believing himself betrayed, until he discovers that Leonora has taken poison rather than be unfaithful, and she dies at his feet. Di Luna enters and, finding himself betrayed, orders Manrico executed. Azucena wakes and is forced to watch; but after Manrico's death, she reveals Manrico's true identity as di Luna's brother, and cries out in victory, her own mother's death finally avenged.

The Cast

A messenger, Leonora's female attendants

nuns, servants and armed retainers of the

count, gypsies, followers of Manrico

Setting

Avgust Amonov (Manrico)

At only 34 years of age, tenor August Amonov has already worked with such conductors as Valery Gergiev, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Nikolai Nekrasov, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Arnold Katz, Mark Ermler and Fuat Mansurov. He has toured to China, Korea, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands (Concertgebouw), Finland (Mikkeli Festival), Denmark, Australia, France and the UK (Albert Hall, London).

In June 2007, Mr. Amonov sang the title role in Don Carlos at the Mariinsky Theatre with Olga Guryakova, Ekaterina Gubanova, Vassily Gerello and René Pape and conducted by Maestro Valery Gergiev. On July 17, 2007, Mr. Amonov debuted as Siegmund in Die Walküre with the Mariinsky Theater at the Metropolitan Opera. In December 2007, he made his debut as Otello with Maestro Gergiev and the Mariinsky at Kennedy Center, Washington DC. In January 2008, Mr. Amonov sang Promastaras with Greek National Opera. In September 2008, Mr. Amonov sings Manrico Il trovatore with The Minnesota Opera. Future engagements also include Bari, Italy in Aida and Vaudemont in Iolanta with Kentucky Opera and the role of Dmitry in Brothers Karamasov with Maestro Valery Gergiev and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra this September. This concert performance will be recorded for a CD release in 2009.

Avgust Amonov performs internationally and is on the roster of St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre. His extensive repertoire includes Sobinin (A Life for the Tsar), Prince Yuri (The Enchantress), Yaromir (Mlada), Prince Vsevolod Yurievich (The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia), the Nose (The Nose), Pollione (Norma), Ismaele (Nabucco), Riccardo (Un ballo in maschera), Don Carlo (Don Carlo), Radames (Aida), Benvenuto Cellini (Benvenuto Cellini), Don José (Carmen), Samson (Samson et Dalila), Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos).

Repertoire also includes: Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Andrei (Mazepa), Herman (Queen of Spades), Vaudemont (Iolanta), Lykov (The Tsar´s Bride), Young Gypsy (Aleko), Antonio, Father Yelustaf (Betrothal in a Monastery), Pierre Bezukhov (War and Peace), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Manrico (Il trovatore), Alfredo (La traviata), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Luigi (Il tabarro), Calaf (Turandot), Faust (Faust) and Alfred (Die Fledermaus).

Concert repertoire includes Verdi's Requiem, Mahler´s Symphony No. 8, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Dubois´ Requiem and Rossini´s Petite messe solennelle. He has toured to China, Korea, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands (Concertgebouw), Finland (Mikkeli Festival), Denmark, Australia, France and the UK (Albert Hall, London).

Brad Benoit (Ruiz)

Bryan Boyce (an old gypsy)

Bryan Boyce is a native of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. He has performed in the Twin Cities with Theatre Latté Da (Colline in La bohème and Olin Blitch in Susannah), Theatre de la Jeune Lune (Figaro in Figaro and Don Giovanni in Don Juan Giovanni) and with the Minnesota Orchestra and The Minnesota Opera. Mr. Boyce has spent three seasons in the Central City Opera's young artist program performing various comprimario roles and most recently covering Leporello in Don Giovanni. This past year he has toured with Theatre de la Jeune Lune's opera re-imaginings to Cambridge, MA (American Repertory Theatre) and Berkeley, CA (Berkeley Repertory Theatre). This season at The Minnesota Opera his roles will include the Old Gypsy in Il trovatore, Pantalone and the Drum Maker in The Adventures of Pinocchio and Don Basilio in the alternate cast of The Barber of Seville. Boyce has won scholarships from the Schubert Club in 2001 and 2004 and was a recipient of an encouragement award at the Minnesota District Metropolitan Opera Auditions in 2007.    

Octavio Cardenas (Assistant Director)

Octavio Cardenas joins The Minnesota Opera's Resident Artist Program after having served as assistant director for productions of Così fan tutte and La traviata for Chautauqua Opera and Die Fledermaus at Austin Lyric Opera. He has also directed productions of Plump Jack, The Impresario, The Elixir of Love and Street Scene and assisted on The Turn of the Screw and La chute de la maison Uscher for Butler Opera Center. Other directing credits include The Elixir of Love for Guadalajara Opera, Beyond Therapy for Los Angeles' Little Theater and Odd Couple for UCLA.

Mr. Cardenas is also a talented singer and actor, having performed in the films ‘Til parole do us part, Bottom Feeders and Gemini Friday; in the plays Beaux Stratagem (Scrub), Fashion (Mr. Twinkle), Summertime (Edmund), Orestes 2.0 (Forensic/Phrygian), Dream Play (the Lawyer), 4 a.m. (Doc) and Butterfly Kiss (Ross Sloan); and having sung the roles of Strephon in Iolanthe for the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Shreveport, Sciarrone in Tosca for Shreveport Opera, Marquese d'Orbigny in La traviata and Cascada in The Merry Widow for Guadalajara Opera and Vuzzachio in L'infedelta fedele and Beto in Gianni Schicchi for USC Opera. Mr. Cardenas holds a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from the Centenary College of Louisiana, a Master of Fine Arts in acting from UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and is the recent recipient of a DMA in opera directing from the University of Texas at Austin.

Greg Emetaz (Projections Designer)

Greg Emetaz is a filmmaker and projections designer based in New York City. Currently he is completing work on Fay Lindsay-Jones Story, a feature documentary, creating a multi-media education project for Opera Theatre of St. Louis and biographical videos for the new NEA Opera Honors. The New York Times described his "excellent introductory videos" as the "highlight" of New York City Opera's Opera for All program. Other projections work includes, The Music Teacher Wallace Shawn's off-Broadway play/opera, Orphée aux enfers – Juilliard Opera Center, Postcard from Morocco – Curtis Institute, Pretty Chin-up – Labyrinth Theater and Der Ring des Nibelungen for the Kirov Opera.  

Andrew Gangestad (Ferrando)

Andrew Gangestad is a rare young bass known for his dark rich sound and his strong musicality. After his performance of Il barbiere di Siviglia the Kansas City Star wrote "... Andrew Gangestad (Don Basilio) ... demonstrated a glorious bass voice," and for his performance of Leporello in Don Giovanni with Opera Pacific, the Orange County Register wrote "Andrew Gangestad portrays the long-suffering Leporello with aplomb, crisp in accent, dark of voice and understated in comedy."

Mr. Gangestad's performances in the 2007-2008 season will include several return engagements including the Metropolitan Opera as Tom in Un ballo in maschera, Opera Pacific as Colline in La bohème, Michigan Opera Theatre as Rodolfo in La sonnambula and Kentucky Opera as Timur in Turandot. Additionally, he sings Ferrando in Il trovatore for Toledo Opera, appears as soloist in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Columbus Symphony and in a gala concert presented by Connecticut Opera and makes his Welsh National Opera debut as Ramfis in Aida. Future engagements currently include his returns to both the Metropolitan Opera to sing Brander in La damnation de Faust and to The Minnesota Opera as Ferrando in Il trovatore. Also in the 2008-09 season he makes his debut with Arizona Opera as Leporello.

Recent performance highlights include Mr. Gangestad's return to the Metropolitan Opera as Colline in La bohème and the Frate in Don Carlo. He made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of James Levine, singing Brander in La damnation de Faust in Boston and at Carnegie Hall, a role which he reprised at the Beethoven Festival in Warsaw, Poland. In addition, he sang Colline in La bohème with Kentucky Opera, Leporello in Don Giovanni in a return to Opera Pacific, Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Opera Omaha, performed the role of Lodovico in excerpts from Otello for the 2006 Richard Tucker Gala, and performed the title role in Le nozze di Figaro with the Bellingham Music Festival. In summer of 2007, Andrew Gangestad performed Colline in La bohème with the Metropolitan Opera and the Minnesota Orchestra, and Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia for Duluth Festival Opera.

Since his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2000-2001 in Alban Berg's Lulu, Mr. Gangestad has returned each season. He has performed on the legendary stage as Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos, Count Ceprano in Rigoletto, Lignière in the company premiere of Cyrano de Bergerac, the Trojan Bass in Idomeneo, Vaudemont in I vespri siciliani, Cappadocian in Salome, the Commissioner in Madama Butterfly, Javelinot in Dialogues des Carmélites, Timur in Turandot and the Forester inDon Carlos.

For Seattle Opera he has performed Zuniga in Carmen, the First Soldier in Salome, Count Horn in Un ballo in maschera, the First Mate in Billy Budd, and as a guest artist with the Young Artists Program, Leporello in Don Giovanni and Alidoro in La Cenerentola. Other past highlights include Colline in La bohème for New York City Opera; First Nazarene in Salome with Glimmerglass Opera; his debut with Michigan Opera Theatre as Alidoro in La Cenerentola and First Nazarene in Salome; Leporello in Don Giovanni and Banquo in Macbeth, both for Sarasota Opera; Death in Der Kaiser von Atlantis with Cincinnati Opera; Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Connecticut Opera; Colline in La bohème for Syracuse Opera; his debut with Opera Pacific as the Bonze in Madama Butterfly and his returns to that company as Ramfis in Aida and Angelotti in Tosca. He has performed with the Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall as the Monk in La Gioconda and as The Hermit in a concert version of Der Freischütz.

In concert he has appeared as soloist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and with the Pacific Symphony in Handel's Messiah, with the Berkshire Choral Festival in Beethoven's Missa solemnis, with the Yakima Symphony Orchestra in their Opera Gala Concerts, and in L'enfant et les sortilèges with the Minnesota Orchestra. He has also performed Tan Dun's Theatre Orchestral II: Re with the Duluth Symphony Orchestra, and Mozart's Coronation Mass with the State College Chorale Society (Pennsylvania).

Andrew Gangestad is the first place winner of the 2005 Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation Voice Competition and the recipient of the Robert Lauch Memorial Grant from the Wagner Society of New York. 

Jessica Jahn (Costume Designer)

Jessica Jahn graduated from Rutgers University with degrees in Dance and Psychology. Recent projects include: Die Mommie Die!, at New World Stages (New York) (Lucille Lortel Award for Costume Design), In the Red and Brown Water, at the Alliance Theatre, The Mystery of Irma Vep, at Studio Arena, Esoterica, at the Daryl Roth Theatre (NY). Upcoming projects include Roberto Deveraux, Maria Stuarda, Anna Bolena with The Minnesota Opera, Bernstein's Mass with Baltimore Symphony, and La Cenerentola with Glimmerglass Opera. Jessica lives in Brooklyn with her cat Emma.  

Mlada Khudoley (Leonora)

"And to complete a fine Russian trio at the heart of this baleful work, Mlada Khudoley (in her Covent Garden debut) summons lacerating power and seemingly inexhaustible angst as the deluded Liza, seduced by Gherman into dumping her bland prince only to realize too late that Gherman is obsessed with the gaming-tables, not her." – London Times

Soprano Mlada Khudoley enjoys an international career and has toured regularly with Russia's Mariinsky Theater. Engagements include performing the roles of Elisabeth in Tannhäuser at Tokyo Opera Nomori, Lisa in Pique Dame in Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Sieglinde in Die Walküre (with Plácido Domingo and Valery Gergiev) at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Sieglinde in Die Walküre at Teatr Wielki, Sieglinde in Die Walküre (with Plácido Domingo) at Washington National Opera, Sieglinde in Die Walküre at Baden-Baden Festspeilhaus and at the "White Nights" Festival in St. Petersburg, guest soloist with the Warshavian Opera, Poland at the IV international festival in Beijing, Abigaille in Nabucco at the Melbourne Opera Festival, and with the Mariinsky Theatre, the roles of Renta in Fiery Angel and the title role in Salome. She has toured with the Kazan Opera in the Netherlands, performing a Verdi Gala Concert with the Amsterdam Concertgebow and the title role in Salome at the first International Trakay Festival under Maya Plisetskaya and Rodion Shchedrin. In 1998, Mlada toured with the Mariinsky Theatre to the Bolshoi Theatre (Moscow), New Israeli Opera (Tel-Aviv), Bunka Kaikan Opera (Tokyo), Baden-Baden, the Metropolitan Opera and London's Royal Opera House - Covent Garden, Korea, Japan and China. Awards and honors include prizewinner of the All-Russian Vocal Competition, Special Diploma of the International Vocal Competition (Rome) and Scholarship Student of the Richard Wagner International Society.

Upcoming engagements for Ms. Khudoley include Abigaille in Nabucco for Opernhaus Graz and the title role in Salome for Vancouver Opera.

Lester Lynch (Count di Luna)

Lester Lynch is recognized as one of today's most promising Verdi baritones. Hailed by The New York Times as "magnificently forceful" for his Carnegie Hall performance at the Marilyn Horne Foundation Gala, Lynch has been praised for his performances at major opera companies throughout the world.

A native of Ohio, Mr. Lynch studied at the Juilliard Opera School before making his debut as Marcello in La bohème with New York City Opera. Other important debuts followed, including Germont in La traviata with Houston Grand Opera, Count di Luna in Il trovatore with Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Seattle Opera and Flint in Billy Budd with Canadian Opera Company. The baritone has enjoyed a long association with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis where he has received critical acclaim for his performances of Calchas in Le belle hélène, Marcello in La bohème, and The Bartender in Conrad Susa's Black River.

Recently, Lester was heard as Paolo in The Santa Fe Opera's new production of Simon Boccanegra, where the New Mexican said he sang "with imposing force," and that when he was on stage, "the air snapped." Mr. Lynch has also recently joined the roster of the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Alfio/Tonio in Cavelleria rusticana and I pagliacci as well as a return to the company for the High Priest in Samson et Dalila. Mr. Lynch made an important debut in the title role of Rigoletto with Dayton Opera, where he was noted for his "powerful and intensely moving" performance of the tragic jester.

Mr. Lynch also added other important roles to his growing Verdi repertoire with performances of Renato in Un ballo in maschera with Michigan Opera Theatre and Amonasro in Aida with the Dayton Opera and Connecticut Opera. Other recent performances include appearances with Cincinnati Opera as Marcello in La bohème, Dayton Opera as Tonio in I pagliacci and Count di Luna in Il trovatore, Amonasro in Aida with Dayton Opera, Opera Columbus as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaroand Nat Turner in Vanqui and Shreveport Opera as Escamillo in Carmen. Mr. Lynch's portrayal of Crown in Porgy and Bess with Houston Grand Opera's International Tour brought him to audiences worldwide, including celebrated performances at Teatro alla Scala and L'Opéra National de Paris - Bastille.

An accomplished concert artist, Mr. Lynch has performed a wide variety of repertoire with many important orchestras, including New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Houston Symphony. Mr. Lynch was again as Amonasro in Aida with the Springfield Symphony which was later broadcast on PBS. Also on the concert stage, he performed in Plácido Domingo's Operalia concert in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic with Eugene Kohn conducting. His performances with Chautauqua Symphony of Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death were described as "truly splendid," and the Baltimore Sun praised his Elijah as "glorious." Mr. Lynch's numerous concert appearances also include New World Symphony in Copland's Old American Songs, Mendelssohn's Die erste Walpurgis Nacht with Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago, Bach Magnificat with Orchestra of St. Lukes at Carnegie Hall, Don Fernando in Fidelio with Cincinnati Symphony, Fauré's Requiem with the Duluth-Superior Orchestra, Carmina burana with Fox Valley Symphony and the New York Oratorio Society again at Carnegie Hall, Elijah with the Flagstaff Symphony, Tucson Symphony in Brahms' Requiem, a premiere with the Columbia Pro Cantare in I Build a House. He recently performed both Crown and Jake in Porgy and Bess under the baton of Bobby McFerrin with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and The Ravinia Festival Orchestra.

Mr. Lynch is a frequent recitalist and has performed throughout the United States under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation. His 2002 Merkin Hall recital included the premiere of Lowell Liebermann's new song cycle, which was commissioned by the Marilyn Horne Foundation for Mr. Lynch. He was heard on New York's classical radio station WQXR and performed a recital with pianist/composer John Musto sponsored by the George London Foundation at New York's Morgan Library.

Mr. Lynch is the recipient of many distinguished awards, such as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the George London Vocal Competition and the Sullivan Awards. His work with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis earned him the prestigious Richard Gaddes Award.

In the 2005-2006 season Mr. Lynch sang Crown in Porgy and Bess with Washington Opera and on a recording with the Nashville Symphony, the world premiere of Adolphus Hailstork's Whitman's Journey with the Washington Master Chorale at the Kennedy Center, Carmina burana with the Cincinnati Symphony with Maestro Conlin conducting, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Virginia Symphony, Messiah with the Columbia Pro Cantare, a Gershwin Gala with the Grand Rapids Symphony, Dvorak's Te Deum with the Dayton Symphony. Other recent credits include Tonio in I pagliacci with Pittsburgh Opera and Lake George Opera, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and leading roles with Opera Company of Philadelphia and with Los Angeles Opera. 

Allen Moyer (Set Designer)

Broadway: Thurgood; Grey Gardens (Tony Nomination); Little Dog Laughed; The Constant Wife; Twelve Angry Men (also current National Tour); In My Life; Reckless; The Man Who Had All the Luck; A Thousand Clowns. Off-Broadway: From Up Here; The New Century; Grey Gardens (Drama Desk Nomination); Mr. Marmalade; Landscape of the Body; A Few Stout Individuals; Lobby Hero; Entertaining Mr. Sloane; The Dazzle; This Is Our Youth; Well; As Bees in Honey Drown. Opera: Orfeo ed Euridice at the Metropolitan Opera; La bohème, Il trittico, The Mother of Us All; Don Pasquale and Il viaggio a Reims at New York City Opera; The Grapes of Wrath [The Minnesota Opera (world premiere)]; The Abduction from the Seraglio at Houston Grand Opera; The Elixir of Love at Opera Colorado; Lucia di Lammermoor at Theater St. Gallen, Falstaff, Agrippina, Daphneand Così fan tutte at Santa Fe Opera; Orfeo at Glimmerglass; Nixon in China at Cincinnati Opera; and The Marriage of Figaro, Radamisto, Miss Havisham's Fire, Lucia di Lammermoor and I puritani at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Additional work at Seattle Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera and Scottish Opera. Ballet/Dance: Romeo and Juliet: On Motifs of Shakespeare with the Mark Morris Dance Group at the Bard Summerfest and the Barbican Center and Sylvia with Mark Morris for the San Francisco Ballet. Awards: 2006 Obie for Sustained Excellence in Set Design.

Upcoming projects include The Count of Monte Cristo at Theater St. Gallen, The Ghosts of Versailles at Opera Theater of St. Louis and Il trittico for San Francisco Opera.

Kevin Newbury (stage director)

Giovanni Reggioli (conductor)

"From the intense, expansive way he shaped the sorrowful opening of the opera, it was clear that conductor Giovanni Reggioli would be a star of the production. His unflaggingly elegant phrasing and ear for subtle details paid off handsomely all night, revealing the soulful beauty in the score." (Opera News)

"Giovanni Reggioli ...led the Washington National Opera Orchestra with sure lyricism and stage-to-pit synchronicity" (Washington Post)

"Reggioli had a sound instinct for balancing control and forward movement with moments where a phrase or note was allowed to open out and drift free." (Sydney Morning Herald)

"Elegant phrasing," "eloquent," intense, "disciplined" and "incandescent" are but a few of the words used to describe the conducting of young Italian Giovanni Reggioli. 

Giovanni has quickly established an impressive international career having conducted Falstaff in Sydney and Caracas, Carmen, La bohème and Don Giovanni at the Washington Opera, Un giorno di regno at the Caramoor International Music Festival of New York, Un ballo in maschera and Turandot in Quebec City, as well as I pagliacci and Cavalleria rusticana for Port Opera. He has led the Metropolitan Opera, Washington Opera and Los Angeles Opera orchestras, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of Saint Luke's, the Orchestra Filarmonica Mediterranea and the Orchestra Filarmonica di Sanremo.

His critically acclaimed conducting debut with Opera Australia of Verdi's Falstaff assured his return for subsequent years: "The lion's share of the credit for that triumph simply must be awarded to the conductor, Giovanni Reggioli, whose intimate and loving knowledge of the detail of this wonderful work inspired the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra to give consistently of its very best, providing a reading of the music so incandescent it rendered all but irrelevant slight shortfalls in other areas of the premiere performance. May Reggioli return soon, and often, to adorn the future performance rosters of Opera Australia." (Opera~Opera, February 2006).

The 2008-2009 season sees Giovanni making his conducting debut with the Minnesota Opera for Il trovatore and returning to Australia to lead Verdi's Otello.

The 2007-2008 season featured his debut in Ottawa, Canada, conducting the National Arts Centre Orchestra for the Black and White Opera Gala, a return to Australia for performances of Verdi's Nabucco and Puccini's La bohème and to the Washington National Opera where he conducted Rigoletto.

The 2006-2007 season opened triumphantly when Giovanni was asked, at short notice, to step in and take over the opening productions of the Washington National Opera: Bluebeard's Castle and Gianni Schicchi. His season continues with performances of La traviata, Il trovatore and Nabucco for the Opera Australia, a semi-staged performance of Turandot to celebrate Australia Day in the Park (January 21, 2007) and a major New Year's Eve Gala on December 31, 2006. He also made a return to PortOpera to conduct Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Recent highlights include his 2005 debut at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome where he conducted Aida, appearances at the Washington Opera for I vespri siciliani and the Opéra de Québec for Madama Butterfly. He has conducted l'Orchestre symphonique du Québec as well as Un ballo in maschera with l'Opéra de Québec, where his performances elicited such praise as "irreproachable and coherent" (Radio-Canada) and "assured, relaxed and respectful" (Le Soleil, Québec), and Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila and La traviata, starring Hei-Kyung Hong for the Washington National Opera.

Giovanni has served as assistant conductor and vocal coach at the New York City Opera, Juilliard Opera Center, the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo, the Barga Opera Festival and the Settimana Musicale Senese at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena working with such celebrated conductors as Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Chailly, Gerard Schwartz, Julius Rudel, Bruno Bartoletti, Edoardo Muller and Peter Maag. He also served as head coach and music administrator for the Washington Opera's Vilar Young Artist Program from 2001 to 2004, working directly with Plácido Domingo. During his tenure there, he conducted the "Operalia Gala", featuring Placido Domingo, and the Washington Opera Gala, televised for PBS, working alongside Valery Giergiev.

A versatile musician, Maestro Reggioli has accompanied in recital such renowned opera singers as Renata Scotto, Shirley Verrett, Placido Domingo, Cecilia Bartoli, Rolando Paneraï, Anna Moffo, Carlo Bergonzi and Jennifer Larmore.

He was the recipient of the conducting scholarship at the Laboratorio Lirico di Alessandria in Italy and the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship at the Juilliard School in New York in 1991, 1992, and 1993. He also spent 6 years as Assistant Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, working with James Levine, among others.

Giovanni Reggioli makes his home in Washington, DC with his wife Alizon and daughter Camilla.

Naomi Isabel Ruiz (Ines)

A native of Port Orchard, Washington, soprano Naomi Isabel Ruiz earned a Performer Diploma and a Master of Music in Voice Performance from Indiana University, where she studied with Patricia Wise. While a student at IU, Ms. Ruiz appeared with the Indiana University Opera Theatre as Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Antonia in A Wedding by Willam Bolcom. Additionally, she performed Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte under the guidance of Martina Arroyo and was seen in IU Opera Workshop productions directed by Carol Vaness. During her final year at IU, she taught voice class as an Associate Instructor.  In 2007, she performed as a semi-finalist in the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition, was an IU Travel Grant Competition Award winner and won first place in the Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Competition.  Through Mu Phi Epsilon, Ms. Ruiz was awarded a 2007 Summer Scholarship and a 2006 International Brena Hazzard Voice Scholarship.

In the summer of 2007, Ms. Ruiz was invited to perform Mimì in La bohème with the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center.  The summer of 2005, she was seen as Ännchen in Der Freischütz and Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites in BASOTI opera scene productions. Ms. Ruiz participated in the master class of Patricia Wise at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria in the summer of 2004. This summer, she was selected to participate in Timothy Noble's Charlie Creek Vocal Workshop.

As a McNair Scholar, Ms. Ruiz graduated cum laude with a BM in Choral Music Education from Central Washington University. While studying at CWU, she performed in newly composed one-act operas, including Obassan in Sedge Hats, the title role in Soul Catcher, in many opera scenes as well as the title role in Cinderella with Valley Musical Theatre.

As a first-year member of the Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Program, Ms. Ruiz will perform Ines in Il trovatore by Verdi, Rosaura in The Adventures of Pinocchio by Dove, Berta in The Barber of Seville and will cover the role of Marguerite in Gounod's Faust. 

Olga Savova (Azucena)

"Olga Savova’s sumptuous-voiced, flirtatious Blanche was a classic performance.”

—David Shengold, Opera News, June 2008 (review of the Metropolitan Opera – The Gambler)

Grammy nominee for Semyo Kotko in 2002, dramatic mezzo-soprano Olga Savova has emerged as a star of the Mariinsky Theatre in recent years. Shortly after she graduated with honors from the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia, Ms. Savova won a top prize in the Voci Verdiani International Voice Competition and was invited to become a soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre in 1996.           

Ms. Savova has toured with the Mariinsky Theatre in Covent Garden, La Scala, Baden-Baden, Korea, Japan and the Metropolitan Opera. Further, Ms. Savova has taken part in the Moscow Easter Festival, as well as festivals in Mikkeli, Finland and Rotterdam, Netherlands. She has given solo recitals in Paris, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Russia, the USA, Japan, China and Israel.

In 2004, Ms. Savova took part in the European premiere of the Mariinsky Theatre´s production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (Festspielhaus, Baden-Baden, Germany). The production was acclaimed by the German media as a truly historical event in music. Ms. Savova sang Brunhilde in Mariinsky Theatre Ring tours in 2005 in Japan, Belgium, England, Korea, Switzerland and in Orange County, California in October 2006.

On October 22, 2005, Ms. Savova sang Brunhilde opposite Plácido Domingo (Siegmund) in a concert version of Die Walküre at Teatr Wielki Warsaw, Poland.

Ms. Savova has been praised for her performances of Amneris (Aida), Azucena (Il trovatore), Eboli (Don Carlos) and as Carmen. In Europe, Ms. Savova is regularly invited to sing lead roles from the Russian repertoire including Boris Godunov, Khovanshcina, Eugene Onegin, The Enchantress, The Snow Maiden, the Queen of Spades, War and Peace and The Gambler.

In March 2006 Ms. Savova sang Luybov in Mazeppa at the Metropolitan Opera with Maestro Valery Gergiev. In October 2006, she sang Laura in La Gioconda at the Metropolitan Opera. On July 17, 2007, Ms. Savova sang Brunhilde in Die Walküre at the Metropolitan Opera with the Mariinsky Theatre.

More recent highlights include Amneris in Aida in Dortmund June 2007; Les noces by Stravinsky in May, 2007 with the London Symphony Orchestra; Boris Godunov at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, conducted by Maestro Esa Pekka-Salonen Sept. 2007; The Gambler in October 2007 in Vienna with Maestro Gergiev; and The Snow Maiden at Carnegie Hall in November 2007. In 2008, Ms. Savova sang Blanche The Gambler with the Metropolitan Opera and Clytemnestra in Elektra at Baden-Baden Festspeilhaus with Maestro Valery Gergiev. 

Future engagements include Azucena Il trovatore at The Minnesota Opera, nine performances of the Hostess in Boris Godunov at the Metropolitan Opera 2010, concert performances of Elektra as Clytemnestra with the Mariinsky Theatre in Edinburg, Scotland and Khovantschina in Berlin.

D. M. Wood (Lighting Designer)

Credits include Die Zauberflöte (Houston Grand Opera), La traviata (Opera Colorado), The Sound of a Voice and Hotel of Dreams (Long Beach Opera), Die Zauberflöte (Opera Colorado), Il viaggio a Reims  (New York City Opera), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Lyric Opera of Kansas City), Tosca (Canadian Opera Company), La Cleopatra and Oedipus Rex (Opernhaus - Graz, Austria), Tristan und Isolde  (Savonlinna Opera Festival, Finland), Les Misérables (New Production: Tour of Denmark) and the transfer designs of Simon Boccanegra and L'incoronazione di Poppea  (New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv).

Ms. Wood has also designed for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Charleston Ballet Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Primary Stages NYC, Baltimore CenterStage, The Minneapolis Children's Theatre Company, NYSF/The Public Theater, Trinity Repertory Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company and the American Repertory Theatre.

Upcoming projects include: The Barber of Seville (The Minnesota Opera), Romance (American Repertory Theatre), and La Cenerentola (Glimmerglass Opera).

Giuseppe Verdi

b Le Roncole, October 9 or 10, 1813; d Milan, January 27, 1901

Giuseppe Verdi was born in Le Roncole, a small village in the Duchy of Parma. Contrary to the composer’s claim that he was of illiterate peasants, Carlo and Luigia Verdi both came from families of landowners and traders – together they ran a tavern and grocery store. As a youth Verdi’s natural fascination with music was enhanced by his father’s purchase of an old spinet piano. By the age of nine he was substituting as organist at the town church, a position he would later assume and hold for a number of years. Carlo Verdi’s contact with Antonio Barezzi, a wealthy merchant and music enthusiast from nearby Busseto, led to Giuseppe’s move to the larger town and to a more formalized music education. Lodging in his benefactor’s home, Verdi gave singing and piano lessons to Barezzi’s daughter, Margherita, who later became the composer’s first wife.

Encouraged by his benefactor, Verdi applied to the Milan Conservatory, his tuition to be funded in part by a scholarship for poor children and the balance to be paid by Barezzi. The Conservatory rejected his application because of his age and uneven piano technique, but Verdi remained in Milan under the tutorship of Vincenzo Livigna, a maestro concertatore at La Scala. After making a few useful contacts in Milan, writing a number of small compositions and some last-minute conducting substitutions, Verdi was offered a contract by La Scala for an opera, Rocester. It was never performed, nor does the score appear to exist. It is commonly believed that much of the music was incorporated into his first staged opera, Oberto. The score also may have been destroyed with the composer’s other juvenilia as Verdi had requested in his will.

Oberto achieved modest success and Verdi was offered another commission from La Scala for a comedy. Unfortunately, by this time the composer had suffered great personal loss – in the space of two years his wife and two small children had all died. Verdi asked to be released from his contract, but La Scala’s impresario, Bartolomeo Merelli (probably with good intentions) insisted that he complete the score. Written under a dark cloud, Il regno di giorno failed in the theater, and Verdi withdrew from any further engagements. It was due to a chance meeting with Merelli (with a new libretto in tow) that led to his return to the stage.Nabucco was a huge success and catapulted Verdi’s career forward.

Italian theaters at this time were in constant need of new works – as a result competent composers were in demand and expected to compose at an astonishing rate. Both Rossini and Donizetti had set the standard and Verdi was required to adapt to their pace. These became his “anni di galera” (years as a “galley slave”) – between 1842 and 1853 he composed eleven new operas, often while experiencing regular bouts of ill-health. His style progressed from treating grandiose historical subjects (as was the custom of the day) to those involving more intimate, personal relationships. This transition is crowned by three of his most popular works: Rigoletto, Il trovatore, and La traviata.

Toward the end of the 1840s Verdi considered an early retirement (as his predecessor, Rossini, had done). He purchased land near Busseto once belonging to his ancestors and soon began to convert the farmhouse into a villa (Sant’ Agata) for himself and his new companion, Giuseppina Strepponi, a retired soprano who had championed his early works (including Nabucco, for which she had sung the leading female role). Verdi had renewed their friendship a few years before; when Verdi and Strepponi were in Paris they openly lived together as a couple. After their return to Italy, however, this arrangement this arrangement scandalized the denizens of Busseto, necessitating a move to the country.

Suggested Listening

Milnes, Cossotto, Price, Domingo, Mehta

New Philharmonia Orchesta and Ambrosian Opera Chorus

RCA Red Seal

Bjoerling, Milanov, Barbieri, Warren, Cellini

RCA Victor Orchestra and Robert Shaw Chorale

RCA Victor Gold Seal

Corelli, Tucci, Simionato, Merrill, Schippers

Coro e Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

EMI Classics

Bergonzi, Stella, Cossotto, Bonato, Serafin

Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala

Deutsche Grammophon

Domingo, Plowright, Fassbaender, Zancanaro, Giulini

Coro e Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia

Deutsche Grammophon    

Suggested Reading

Nicholas John (editor)

English National Opera Guide – No. 20: Il trovatore (includes libretto)

Riverrun Press

Julian Budden

The Operas of Verdi (volume two)

Cassell

Charles Osborne

The Complete Operas of Verdi

Knopf

Mary Jane Phillips-Matz

Verdi: a biography

Oxford University Press  

For More Information

A class devoted to Il trovatore will be held on Wednesday, September 17, 2008.

Special guest speaker will be Bill Lutes, Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Call 612-333-6669 for tickets.