DomStufen-Festspiele in Erfurt 2017
Minstrels, witch burnings, and bloody civil wars – Verdi's popular opera is set in the dark world of the Middle Ages. The troubadour Manrico seduces Countess Leonore with his serenades. In doing so, he also makes an enemy of Count Luna, who is also in love with Leonore. A duel ensues between these rivals, who are also political opponents. The story becomes particularly explosive thanks to Manrico's mother, the mysterious gypsy Azucena, whom Verdi himself was most fascinated by. She reveals an old story according to which her mother once predicted the fortune for Luna's brother and was burned as a witch for it. To avenge her mother, Azucena kidnapped the heir to the throne and threw him into the flames as well. Leonore is innocently drawn into this family feud, and between love, jealousy, revenge, and intrigue, an increasingly complex and dramatic scenario develops.
The story takes place around 1400, precisely at the time when Erfurt Cathedral was built in its present form. The cathedral's magnificent high choir provides the most authentic backdrop imaginable for this opera. Hank Irwin Kittel's set design seamlessly reconstructed the cathedral's architecture, transforming it into a besieged fortress.
Director Jürgen R. Weber saw parallels between The Troubadour and TV series such as Game of Thrones or Vikings, in which the audience is confronted with things that trigger disgust and fear in real life, such as war, torture, and execution – but are nevertheless fascinating. Embedded in Verdi's music, the horror suddenly becomes a cultural delight, inspiring high, almost unsingable notes.
Premiere / August 10, 2017
Cast
Manrico, the Troubadour Eduard Martynyuk, Adorján Pataki, Thomas Paul | Count of Luna Gerard Kim, Todd Thomas | Leonora, a lady-in-waiting Ekaterina Godovanets, Elena Stikhina | Azucena, a Gypsy Agnieszka Rehlis, Eliska Weissová | Ferrando, Luna's captain Andrey Maslakov, Kakhaber Shavidze | Ines, Leonora's confidante Margrethe Fredheim, Julia Neumann | Ruiz, Manrico's soldier Ks. Jörg Rathmann, Alexander Voigt | An old Gypsy Jan Rouwen Hendriks, Dmitriy Ryabchikov | A messenger Reinhard Becker, Tobias Schäfer | Witch, Azucena's mother Luisa Funke (dance)