Il Trovatore in rehearsal, with Barnaby Beer (centre) and Fraser Grant (behind).

Opera South East presents Verdi at his darkest

Opera South East presents the spectacle of revenge, “fantasy and bizarre incident” which is Verdi’s Il Trovatore at the White Rock Theatre next weekend. The same creative team who brought Verdi’s Nabucco to Hastings welcomes you to the darkness of Il Trovatore. HOT’s Chris Cormack touches on the wealth of arias in this opera which make it so popular.

Set almost entirely at night, Il Trovatore (The Troubador) explores the themes of revenge and persecution. An old gypsy accused of bringing illness to a count’s baby is burnt alive at the stake. In revenge her daughter seizes the child and throws it onto the pyre. Years later events are drawn to an inexorable conclusion as both the count and the gypsy’s son vie for the affections of the same girl.

It is certainly one of Verdi’s darkest operas, but, with a wonderfully memorable score, one of his most popular. Di quella pira is one of the most spectacular tenor arias of any opera; Manrico calls together his soldiers and sings of the “horrible blaze of the burning pyre which enflamed all of his being!”  D’amor sull‘ali rosee, sung by Leonora to her imprisoned lover Manrico,  is one of a series of memorable soprano arias, and there is the compelling beauty of Count di Luna’s baritone aria Il Balen.  All these and we have not yet come to the keynote Anvil Chorus. The Anvil Chorus or Coro di zingari (Italian gypsy chorus) depicts Spanish gypsies striking their anvils at dawn and singing the praises of hard work, good wine, and their gypsy women.

Mari Wyn-Williams plays Leonora.

Under Fraser Grant’s artistic direction and Kenneth Roberts’ musical direction, the
company are joined by three new principals – Mari Wyn Williams as Leonora,
Roberto Garcia Lopez as Manrico and Andrew Mayor as the Count di Luna.

Hailing from north Wales, Mari Wyn Williams has sung alongside the likes of Bryn Terfel, Gwyn Hughes Jones and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. She has been receiving much success on the competition circuit of late and made her role debut as Lady MacBeth in Verdi’s MacBeth last year.

Argentina-born tenor Roberto Garcia Lopez has been described as having a “Pavarottian manner,” and with Tosca, Carmen and Il Trovatore under his belt, he is a tenor much in

Andrew Mayor plays the Count di Luna.

demand. Future engagements include works with the Welsh National Opera, Hashtag Opera, Dorset Opera and a gala concert in Moldova.

Andrew Mayor’s roles have lead him to tour Europe, the USA and the Far East. He
has worked extensively with English Touring Opera and Holland Park and was a
soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia in Salzburg with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado.

The production is sung in English with full chorus and accompanied by the Sussex Concert Orchestra. The cast is as follows:

Leonora Mari Wyn Williams, Azucena Karen McInally, Manrico Roberto Garcia Lopez, Count di Luna Andrew Mayor,
Ferrando Barnaby Beer, Inez Julia Bovee, Ruiz Alex Roberts, Gypsy Leo Selleck,
Messenger Tim Gordon.

There will be a pre-show talk at 6pm on Saturday, free of charge to all ticket holders
from either evening.

Opera South East performs Il Trovatore by Verdi on 24 and 25 April at 7.30pm, White Rock Theatre, White Rock, Hastings TN34 1JX. Tickets cost £20, £16 and £12 plus 50p per ticket booking fee (concessions £2 off and accompanied children under 16 free) and are available from the theatre box office (01424 462288).

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