The program cover for Opéra de Montréal’s performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore leaves a lasting impression.  It displays a gaping witch with fiery hair, her expression carrying both a hint of personal pain and menacing madness.  Though the opera does tell the story of a troubadour and his turbulent quest for love in Medieval Spain, this image perfectly encapsulates the subtle drive of the story.

The opening scenes tell the story of a gypsy’s execution following accusations of witchcraft.  In a desperate act of vengeance, Azucena, the gypsy’s daughter, runs off with the king’s baby, whom the gypsy had allegedly cursed. Escaping the clutches of the king and his men, she and the baby disappear for years. 

Like many operas, Verdi’s Il Trovatore is a love story.  Taking place years after the kidnapping, two men, Count Di Luna, the older brother of the kidnapped baby, and the troubadour Manrico, Azucena’s son, vie for the love of Leonora.  It is revealed that not only is the troubadour a supporter of Di Luna’s enemies in a civil war that is raging in Spain, but that the two men’s relationship is indeed more complex.  Was Manrico indeed Azucena’s own son?  Azucena’s presence further obscures the linear romance.  Was this a simple quest for love, or a complex mission for vengeance?

Among Verdi’s most popular operas, Il Trovatore stands out for its lead roles.  Though no Verdi opera is easy to perform, Il Trovatore contains the four highly demanding roles of Count Di Luna, Manrico, Leonora, and Azucena.  Opéra de Montréal and stage director Oriol Tomas did not disappoint.  Led by the superb performances of Japanese Soprano Hiromi Omura as Leonora and Italian mezzo Laura Brioli as Azucena, Opéra de Montréal’s musical performance was stellar. 

I was almost brought to tears at Brioli’s tortured performance of Azucena recounting the sight of her mother burning at the stake.  The calls of “Avenge me!” uttered in the aria still haunt my ears.   Omura was stellar, hitting Leonora’s love-struck high notes with both precision and profound expressivity.

Dongwon Shin’s performance of Manrico successfully captured the troubadour’s hectic loyalties, his love for both Leonora and Azucena, and his mysterious pity for Di Luna.  Gregory Dahl’s Di Luna served as a perfect contrast, illustrating Di Luna’s uncompromising hatred of Manrico. Conductor Francesco Maria Colombo, hailing from Italy, not only kept the complex accompaniment together, but also gave it a touching and animated edge. 

 While the music and its execution were near perfect, aspects of the stage direction were somewhat peculiar.  In the first confrontation between Manrico and Di Luna, the whole scene seemed awkwardly drawn out.  Manrico and Di Luna face each other with swords drawn, their singing interrupted by two histrionically exaggerated sword clashes.  Though fighting choreography is hard to pull off in any opera, it’s best to either perfect it or toss it altogether. 

Another challenge posed by the opera is the stark contrast of each scene, ranging from gardens to inside a convent. Instead of smooth transitions, the curtains closed for each scene change with the length of the pauses on the supertitles, giving people permission to speak between scenes, which in turn broke the dramatic tension and build-up of the opera as a whole.   

However, these are minor qualms.  I attended mainly for the music, and the magical performance of the leads, chorus, and orchestra, amongst the stunning costumes and efficiently simple sets created a marvelous whole.

Opéra de Montréal’s production of Il Trovatore runs on Jan 24, 26, and 28 at 7:30 p.m., Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts.