At the end of the outgoing season, the Helikon-Opera Theater pleased the audience with the premiere: the classic opera “Il Trovatore” by Verdi appeared as a parable about wars. About mortal battles - from family dramas to modern world military conflicts.

Between earth and sky - war

The opera “Il Trovatore” (1852) was written by Duseppe Verdi during the heyday of his composer’s genius: at the same time he created such masterpieces as “Rigoletto” (1851) and “La Traviata” (1853), which have not left the posters of the world repertoire for the second century. Il Trovatore is also one of the most frequently performed classics in the world, and rich story productions only intrigue the viewer: what will the opera be staged about this time?!

However, no matter how this opera is staged at Helikon, all people who attend the performance will undoubtedly and definitely receive great pleasure, because they will listen to the great and beautiful music of Verdi all evening.

The example of Helikon’s production once again confirms the unshakable rule of smart and competent directors: you don’t need to invent anything, you just need to carefully read the text - be it a drama or an opera libretto. In the opera “Il Trovatore,” the scene is the small state of Taifa Zaragoza, formed on the ruins of the once powerful Cordoba Caliphate in the 11th century, during the period of Moorish rule in Spain. Civil strife between the Christian and Muslim worlds led to the formation of small states on the ashes of the empire. The conflict begins with family feuds that overwhelm loved ones to such an extent that it is not far from a fratricidal war to a major military conflict that threatens the entire world.

The overture begins with the tremolo of the timpani: their alarming sound always foreshadows trouble, war, invasion. And when Count di Luna’s guards in white Muslim robes appear before us, it is perceived absolutely naturally: well, yes, Muslims against Christians, the Arab world against the European... It’s in the plot!

Scene from the play "Troubadour"

The production of “Helikon Opera” turned out to be extremely relevant for us, frightened by the endless terrorist attacks that today happen almost every day here and there all over the world, which is why we see a threatening image of the enemy in almost every person professing the Islamic religion. Especially when this “enemy image” is methodically fueled by the media.

I've never seen a crowd scarier than a khaki crowd.

The militant Arabs of Count di Luna are opposed by landing berets European army in khaki uniform. Yes, it is in the khaki uniform that in the opera “Il Trovatore” the gypsy camp with which the troubadour Manrico and his mother, the gypsy Azucena, roam around the world is dressed.

Scene from the play "Troubadour"

Before my eyes, two indignant spectators could not bear the desperate “mockery” of the classics and defiantly left the Stravinsky Hall in the middle of the first act, but could have waited for the intermission - at least for the sake of decency. I, as a curious person and a professional journalist, wanted to ask them: “What, exactly, did you expect to see? Historical accuracy and costumes from the High Middle Ages? Or “the gypsies in a noisy crowd” must certainly appear on stage, dressed as artists of the “Romen” theater?” However, two indignant theatergoers do not count, if we take into account the enthusiastic reception of the performance by half a thousand spectators. The spring of tragedy began to twist tighter from scene to scene, and the applause after each musical number sounded louder and longer.

Who will drink a bottle of Verdi champagne?

It is hardly worth going into a detailed retelling of the opera's plot. It is so intricate that in the theater world a legend was even born about a bottle of champagne, supposedly created by a certain music critic - and perhaps by Verdi himself? - addressed to someone who can accurately and consistently retell the events of the opera “Troubadour”. They say that this bottle is still walled up under glass in a Milanese tavern located opposite the La Scala theater: this means that a person has not yet been found who was able to accurately convey all the intricacies of the plot collisions. And who will become the arbiter after 170 years?..

As a viewer, I was pleased by all the opera performers without exception - from soloists to the choir and orchestra. The singers performing the main roles are not at all stilted characters with artificial passions, but living people for whom you immediately feel sympathy and feel genuine compassion.

Count di Luna – Mikhail Nikanorov (baritone)

Tormented by jealousy, Count di Luna, whose role is performed by baritone Mikhail Nikanorov, evokes associations with another world-famous jealous Moor, Othello. Nikanorov’s character is so sincerely worried about the fact that he is not loved, is not needed by his own wife, Duchess Leonora, that everyone who has ever been rejected and suffered painfully from this will understand the hero on a cellular level and will feel human pity for him.

Duchess Leonora – Anna Pegova (soprano)

Anna Pegova, performer of the role of Duchess Leonora, is undoubtedly the prima and star of this performance. What was most striking was how, without strain, without a frank demonstration of the power of her vocal abilities, on subtle shades of piano, she conveys the inner experiences of the heroine. She sings with her heart, from the inside, and that’s why her soulful voice gives you goosebumps.

Gypsy Azucena - Honored Artist of Russia Ksenia Vyaznikova (mezzo-soprano)

Gypsy Azucena, performed by Ksenia Vyaznikova, is evil incarnate. Brightly and colorfully, the singer creates the image of a female devil, an instigator: instead of teaching her son to forgive and avoid conflicts, she puts a gun in his hand and shouts: “Kill! Take revenge!

Troubadour Manrico – Ivan Gyngazov (tenor)

Her adopted son, the troubadour Manrico, is played in the play by Ivan Gyngazov, whose amazing tenor, naturally rich in timbre, captivates the audience literally from the first notes. In the first scene with his mother, the gypsy Azuchena, Gynzagov reveals himself not only as a subtle vocalist, but also as an excellent dramatic actor: he plays almost the entire scene with his back to the audience. And, looking at his plastically expressive back, the viewer seems to see the face of a young man tormented by suffering, who is already fed up with his mother’s endless instructions: “You must take revenge! You must, must, must...” Involuntarily you become imbued with sympathy for the young hero.

The choir deserves special attention. Before us is by no means a static extras, conscientiously performing vocal parts, but almost equal characters in history. Everyone is included in the action by the interesting, extraordinary choreography of Edvald Smirnov. It is difficult to sing and move at the same time, and even more difficult to sing and dance, but the choreographer found plastic solutions that involve each choir artist in interaction with the main characters of the opera. Many Muslim warriors look terrifying, singing verses of the Koran and, on their knees, offering prayers to Allah. Choirmaster Evgeny Ilyin and Spanish conductor Oliver Diaz did a serious and hard work in terms of elaboration musical material. Choirs sound balanced, synchronized and precise. The choir of nuns, which we first hear from behind the scenes, is beautiful - as if the voices of angels are coming from heaven.

Scene from the play "Troubadour"

The set design effectively enhances the image of the performance. Production designers Igor Nezhny and Tatyana Tulubyeva made maximum use of the stage's ultra-modern technical equipment: moving inclined planes make the stage box multifunctional. The characters constantly move in volumetric space as if “up stairs leading down” - as in geometrically mysterious, surreal, paradoxical, sometimes causing optical illusion canvases Dutch artist Maurice Escher.

Lighting designer Damir Ismagilov created precise mood pictures and the disturbing atmosphere of the performance. Powerful beams of searchlights - either enemy reconnaissance, or flashes of thunderstorm lightning? And what bonfires are blazing on the stage! Beautiful and real, near which gypsy paratroopers rest and warm themselves between battles...

Hurry up to do good!

And the production director Dmitry Bertman didn’t seem to have done anything special: he just carefully and thoughtfully read the text of the libretto! As my classmate at the theater institute, who later became a director, said: “Read the text carefully. Everything is written in the text."

In the production of the artistic director of the Helikon Opera theater, we saw people poisoned by the poison of hatred, mired in intrigue and deceit. Their world was drowned in evil, everyone was swallowed up by the darkness of enmity. Nevertheless, despite the fact that all evening bloody scenes are taking place before our eyes - fights, murders, burning at the stake - the performance “Troubadour” calls for good, as if telling people: “Come to your senses! Enough with family squabbles, blood feuds, terrorism. Learn to forgive each other so as not to increase the forces of evil. After all, if the Devil walks the Earth, it means that God must be somewhere nearby.”

Photos provided by the press service of the Helikon Opera Theater. Photo by Irina Shymchak.

Opera premiere

The Helikon Opera Theater presented in its hall "Stravinsky", equipped with last word theatrical technology, the premiere episode of Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore”. One of the most popular opera scores is now staged in Moscow by director Dmitry Bertman and conductor Oliver Diaz, adding another extravagant and poignant operatic show to Verdi's Helikon series. Tells Yulia Bederova.

Remarkable for its emotional lushness, theatrical beauty of music and legendary intricacy of plot, Verdi's opera Il Trovatore is both popular and difficult to perform. But Helikon was never afraid of any Verdi, regularly putting into its repertoire the most difficult Verdi blockbusters from Aida to Falstaff and Un ballo in maschera. In several premiere casts of the Troubadour, only the theater troupe is occupied without guest soloists. The only guest performer in the team is the Spanish conductor Oliver Diaz, and he, responding to the Spanish circumstances of the libretto, conducts the performance with elasticity, tightness, excitement in colors, balance and articulation, with cuts and at the most rapid pace, which does not allow the singers, choir and orchestra to relax , and the dramaturgy becomes blurry.

Bertman's direction, straightening out some of the opera's particularly ornate lines, transforms the score with the hum of luxurious theatrical machinery into a compact, passionate and, above all, playful drama, not without tragedy, but not without sarcasm. The fratricide at the heart of Verdi's Il Trovatore unfolds on stage into a plot about a modern fratricidal war and, if not an anti-war manifesto, then a living memorial, as sad as it is unashamedly artistic. Bertman's recipe for directing - the charming populism of a theatrical show mixed with social acuity and musicality of mise-en-scène - works truly appropriately in Il Trovatore. A reinterpretation of the libretto would oblige the opera reviewer to show scrupulousness, more common in stories about cinema, and not reveal the secret of the final twist in the stage plot of Helikon's version of Verdi. But the main idea of ​​the play, which is fully revealed only towards the end, is not a secret. The poison that Leonora drinks in the finale, sacrificing herself to save another, is only the material embodiment of the poisonous idea of ​​vengeance, passed on from mother to daughter, from father to son, infecting and poisoning the lives of old and current generations. The main dramatic idea of ​​the play is the theme of the catastrophic power of sacrifice and revenge and the vital need for forgiveness, and the main theme song- Miserere choir, lament for the dead and perishing.

And the fact that the premiere episode of “Troubadour” is timed with a photo exhibition “War and... Peace?”, telling about the fate of Aleppo (and stating: “Modern wars - senseless and merciless - differ little from the events of Verdi’s romantic opera, and the photograph makes you feel the rabid cruelty war"), only emphasizes the theme of forgiveness and compassion heard in Verdi's stormy score.

The performance is constructed (the specificity of the scenography by artists Igor Nezhny and Tatyana Tulubieva is such that it is built as an architectural structure, like a house) with a surprisingly charming measure of elegance and vampuka, not only not alien to Verdi’s score, but permeating it through and through with a flammable mixture. Here, among other things, the danceability of the melodramatic Verdi is visualized, and it is reveled in with extravagant ease and even prowess, especially in the choral episodes, which amusingly echoes some of Verdi’s higher-flying productions, right up to the Permian La Traviata.

The ensemble of singers in the performance must demonstrate not only vocal and dramatic, but also plastic abilities, which, however, has never prevented the Helikon Opera artists from sounding and looking expressive. The strong acting Larisa Kostyuk in the role of Azucena forced her voice, and Dmitry Ponomarev (Manrico) emphasized the unevenness of the ensemble rather than concealing it. But the clear and almost always vocally convincing dramatic design of Elena Mikhailenko in the role of Leonora, Alexey Isaev in the role of Count di Luna, Stanislav Shvets in the role of Ferrando was very suitable for the musical and dramatic structure of the performance. Which, despite the deliberate technological effectiveness of the scenography and lighting, was built flexibly and frighteningly clearly.

Director Dmitry Bertman, conductor Valery Kiryanov (first performance), artists Igor Nezhny and Tatyana Tulubyeva, choreographer Edvald Smirnov unraveled the most confusing plot of the world opera repertoire with the help of allusions to today's events in the world. At the same time, Verdi’s brilliant music not only did not resist the director’s decision, but fully revealed all its strength, passion and fantastic beauty.

The public loves Verdi's opera, although many theaters around the world refuse to stage it - the parts of the main characters are too complex and emotional.

The luxurious interiors of Helikon became the basis for the solution for the performance, which tells about cruel revenge, hatred, fratricide using the incredibly beautiful means of Italian opera music in its most radical - Verdi version.

Maestro Valery Kiryanov performed Verdi's score with inspiration, with the necessary drive and emotionality, with the pathos theatricality inherent in this music, but at the same time with great taste and love.

According to Bertman, Leonora and Manrico are artists. Which, however, differs from the original only in relation to Leonora: Verdi’s Manrico is also a singer, a troubadour, a representative of the artistic intelligentsia. The theatrical reality of the performance is conditional and metaphorical. The performance is dedicated to human feelings and characters - bright, quite unambiguous, not complicated by contradictions, but at the same time motivated and justified.

Dmitry Bertman's directing style is a fusion of operatic conventions and psychological certainty, which he passes on to his students.

The stage space is both scary and fascinating - the synthesis of these polar states is part of the concept of the performance. Huge metal gratings forming multi-level bridges, walls, backdrops, allowing artists to be distributed not only horizontally, but also vertically across the stage mirror. The grates either heat up or fill with smoke, moving and changing shape.

The performance is designed as a synthetic action, in which plasticity and choreography are complete means of expression along with vocals. Edvald Smirnov created a detailed dance score, in which he combined a variety of plastic elements - from bullfighter and gaucho poses to riverdance movements. It is performed by the phenomenal Helikon choir under the direction of Evgeniy Ilyin.

Vertical mise-en-scène - distinguishing feature performance. The monastery scene, in which several performers form crucifixes in the backdrop, is a piece of visual art in its own right.

The confrontation between two forces: who are they, these participants in the internecine war? Muslims and Christians? Pagans and monotheists? Red and white? Who is right and whose side should we be on? Helikon does not answer these questions. But in the entire history of mankind, no answers have been found.

Diva Leonora performed by Alisa Gitsba - refined, subtle, living in the imagination art world. Debutant Ivan Gyngazov (Manrico) - with equal recklessness he rushes into the arms of his beloved and into battle with the enemy. Mikhail Nikanorov's Di Luna is mysterious and very charismatic.

Ksenia Vyaznikova (Azucena) is a manipulator. It is she who drives the plot and events. Vyaznikova’s image is one-dimensional, devoid of subtext: Azuchena is zombified by revenge. She hates Manrico and actually kills him herself in the finale. But she's not a villain either. As Dmitry Bertman said after the premiere, there are no villains in the opera. Because the most terrible opera villain sings such beautiful music that all his villainy is instantly forgiven.

It is in this the main idea performance! The temptation is great to plunge into the world of classical theater and music, where real human feelings, having left reality, which has become a cynical theater of war...

Lyudmila Yuryevna (a novice theatergoer) shared her impressions after watching:

“The hall is solemn, cozy, fascinating. Tours of the theater during intermission are interesting and educational. A live orchestra and soulful voices create a festive experience. Looks like a breeze. Thanks to the artists for the pleasure they brought.”

Sabadash Vladimir from Helikon

Photo – the theater press service.

• The Helikon Opera Theater staged the most mysterious...

"took place on June 27 this year on stage Great Hall-Amphitheater "Stravinsky". It was the final premiere of last season, but the current season also opened with “Troubadour.”

Having read rave reviews and seen enough advertising propaganda videos on the theater’s website, the author of these lines, “overwhelmed by the greatness” of nothing less than the “moment of truth” praised by a whole host of media personalities from the “opera bohemia,” did not rush to the premiere last season.

The theatrical “foam of days” had to be allowed to settle, and therefore the beginning of the new season was chosen to attend the high-profile premiere

The moment when serious passions and unbridled delight should have safely, if not remained in the past, then at least slightly settled to the bottom.

I had the opportunity to join the “beautiful and eternal” only recently - on September 2, but, contrary to expectations, “Troubadour” staged by the founder and artistic director of Helikon Opera Dmitry Bertman did not become the promised sensation. He did not, despite the fact that, by European standards, this performance is undoubtedly characterized by scenographic elegance, revealing the truly flexible and impressive capabilities of the machinery acquired in the new theatrical space of the completed and repurposed building on Bolshaya Nikitskaya.

There was no sensation, since, in essence, an abstractly far-fetched and banal transformative performance was born. In its sophisticated coordinate system, in a complex volumetric labyrinth of continuously rising and falling metal structures (bridges-crossings, barriers-shields and cages-towers-containers), stage at least any opera - not necessarily Verdi and not necessarily “Il Trovatore”!

But the scenographic and costume concept of the production proposed by the artists Igor Nezhny And Tatiana Tulubieva, the director is apparently satisfied with everything. It is complemented by a very impressive “score of light” Damira Ismagilova and typically pop, hauntingly rhythmic movement, totally brought to the stage by the choreographer Edvald Smirnov and in the end

turning Verdi's Italian thriller based on a Spanish story by librettists Cammarano and Bardare into an ordinary musical with back-up dancers and a flashy, brightly-produced "operetta" wardrobe.

The remarkable imagination of the director and artists transfers the plot to a certain orthodox Arab country, in which Islamist thugs (the party of Count di Luna) are waging a stubborn struggle with the rebels - with the “green berets” (the “gypsy” party of Manrico and Azucena with Leonora who joined them).

Leonora in this production is like the star of a propaganda team, performing in front of fighters opposing the terror of the Islamists, and Manrico is a sexy lover who has completely started an affair with her.

The characters of “Troubadour” can be dressed, of course, in any way you like: this time these are traditional Arab scarves with plaits and “landing” berets.

But if you do not create an aesthetically adequate environment for the perception of music, and it is not created in the performance, then there will simply not be an opera, especially one like “Il Trovatore,” because it only talks about the events of the plot all the time, and the key effective moments are placed in libretto per stage.

So, there is no musically friendly environment, but what happens on stage to the accompaniment of an orchestra, when the soloists and choir not only sing, but also dance, is a common costume concert. This entire scenographic installation, like a simple musical, is only in a state of operatic anabiosis, and there is practically no chance of it awakening from sleep, of living striving towards opera.

The performance clearly cannot be called spectacular, but its visual image is quite cute, although downright naive.

Moments when the “scenographic hardware” is obscured for the duration of a particular episode by local “architectural-picturesque” insertion islands in a traditional classical manner (there is such a thing in the production!), look like a deliberate flirtation with the audience.

It’s as if they’re telling us: “Look, we can do anything, but we’ll do it.” just the way it should be!” This means: so that it is “cool” and “cool”, but, like this time, it goes against the aesthetics itself opera history, embedded in the libretto and music. Otherwise, the direction of this performance would not be that “fashionable product” in a shiny golden wrapper, which is simply adored by the club audience devoted to Helikon, brought up precisely on such primitiveness with glamor and firmly believing that this is opera...

One would like to say, “all that glitters is not gold,” but, however, we will not destroy the illusions of the club audience, who are fans of the aesthetic wonders of Helikon, although the very spirit of the opera from Verdi’s most popular work is inevitably knocked out by the staging “creativity” this time too.

The only indicative value of this performance is the absolute impossibility of falling asleep during it:

with all the vampuka of the musical and even the cranberry operetta in places, it’s unexpectedly interesting to watch what’s happening on stage!

It is to observe, not to empathize! It is precisely to “make fun”, and not to listen to opera in the highest and most important spiritual purpose of this genre. But today the attack on opera is actively underway on all fronts, on many metropolitan (if we talk about Moscow) opera venues, so to be surprised that the long-time “proven” flagship of this movement did not stand aside this time would simply be the height of naivety !

The plot collision of “Troubadour” is incredibly complicated, but unraveling it in the viewer’s mind is still much less important than immersing yourself in the crucible of dramatic bloody ups and downs, momentary psychological situations, beautiful, truly melodic music and the enjoyment of the high art of academic opera singing.

But it was with the last aspect that “Helikon” always had problems: they did not go away this time either. In general, in a loud voice, an obsessive feeling is created! – the hardware-controlled acoustics of the forcedly designed Stravinsky Hall with a wide front of the audience seating and an excessively deep orchestra pit do not seem to have to strain the soloists and choir at all.

Singers open their mouths on stage, but you don’t feel direct contact with them:

we hear the sound - and a very good and technically high one - from somewhere above, and this unexpected discovery takes us even further away from the living and immediate art of opera. Well, oh well: Helikon won’t have another building anyway. After for long years The tireless selfless efforts of Dmitry Bertman finally built this: in our times of crisis, this in itself is already fantastic!

It is absolutely impossible to fall asleep at Helikon’s “Troubadour” because of the excessive, as noted above, volume of the “soundtrack”, but for the majority of the public the volume is not a hindrance at all: discomfort is experienced only by those who, like the author of these lines, are accustomed to attending academic music venues with acoustics more tolerant to opera. But in this case, the very specific acoustics of the Stravinsky Hall even helps the singers to some extent:

Everyone can be heard wonderfully, but there are no bright discoveries and cherished music lover pleasure from vocals.

If we talk about the parts of Leonora and Manrico in a purely technical vocal aspect, then their performers are quite experienced sopranos Alisa Gitsba and a very young, stylistically unformed tenor Ivan Gyngazov– this time the named parties try on themselves more than conditionally. But how you want to taste Verdi’s “dramatic bel canto”, but that’s not the case! How you want to enjoy the purity of intonation and the magic of phrasing of singer-artists, how you want to feel yourself in the power of a melodic cantilena, but this is precisely what is not happening!

Everything is approximate, everything is nominative, but if in vocals main character and the remnants of the luxury of former skill appear, then the tenor, overly pressing with a sound of a deliberately spint, ringingly whitened color and going off scale in the upper register, instead of skill, so far squanders only a stream of decibels that do not come into too much contact with the opera.

Pleasant exceptions - stylistically confident, captivating musical interpretations, presented by a dramatically sensual baritone Mikhail Nikanorov(Count di Luna), brightly textured mezzo-soprano Ksenia Vyaznikova(Azucena) and a young - hopefully - promising bass Georgiy Ekimov(Ferrando).

But due to the specifics of acoustics, it is still not possible to experience the full sensory impact of their singing...

“Nessun dorma” (“No one sleeps”), sings Calaf in his famous aria in Puccini’s opera Turandot, which was also staged on this stage for the first time not so long ago – in January. But if you suddenly take a nap on the Troubadour, where, as we found out above, it is impossible to fall asleep, you accidentally take a nap, then closer to the end you will definitely wake up!

The fact is that the fabric of this production, which refers to the usual Italian version, is unexpectedly invaded by the French finale, incorporated by Verdi for the Paris production of 1857. In it, which did not happen at the world premiere in Rome on the stage of the Apollo Theater in January 1853, the theme of “Miserere” is repeated with the chorus from the first scene of the last (fourth) act. But if in this film this music is associated exclusively with the drama of the relationship between Leonora and Manrico, then in the Paris finale (by this time Leonora, who had taken poison, was already dead), Azucena also joins the theme of “Miserere” with new vocal lines.

At the first moment you are simply confused, because this move is of interest only to music lovers, and the general public is unlikely to notice this know-how!

But even music lovers’ interest immediately raises the question: “Why is all this intellectual impulse needed, trying to connect the incompatible - Italian with French, French with Nizhny Novgorod?” Whose brilliant idea is this - guest conductor from Spain Oliver Diaz who directed the orchestra at the performance under discussion, or the stage director? Or maybe it's mutual? This is probably not so important, but the mise-en-scène of the finale makes it more likely that this was the director’s idea.

In the scene of Leonora's dying explanation with Manrico, Count di Luna is present this time from the very beginning: he comes and listens silently. Leonora, who deceived him, dressed in a black Muslim outfit, while dying, does not die at all, but quietly steps aside. Following this, after "Miserere", Azucena slowly points Count di Luna's hand with a pistol at Manrico, getting the shot, which happens.

Why should she feel sorry for her adopted Manrico, when instead of him, by an absurd accident, she threw her own son into the fire!

Moreover, Manrico is the brother of Count di Luna, whose father is responsible for the death of her mother. But this trick, no matter what they say about the hyper-intricacy of the libretto, is a move that is obviously against Verdi. However, such moves are commonplace in modern opera productions, although they are always presented solely as a director’s prowess.

And just for this reason the Paris final was needed?

Well, when global production ideas - and this is visible to the naked eye - are stalled, probably what really comes to mind is the desire to play spillikins, appealing to a slightly modified musical form, and not to the essence of the psychological content. But all this is nothing other than the evil one.

And yet, no matter how cunning, the singers and choir (choirmaster - Evgeniy Ilyin) they sing loudly, the orchestra plays quite smoothly, without emissions, quite emotionally, but also loudly.

The opera itself on the stage of the Great Hall of the multiplex megatheater, which today is the reconstructed super-fashionable Helikon, this time is noticeably repressed in its legal rights. And this is exactly what nanoopera is!

Photos from the official website of Galikon-Opera

A mysterious plot, bewitching music, wonderful direction and brilliant performance - all this is the opera “Troubadour” at the Helikon Opera. Add spectacular scenography using modern technologies, a passionate love affair and a serious intensity of passions, and you will understand why tickets to the opera “Il Trovatore” are in great demand.

This production is successful by default: it is decorated with the magnificent music of G. Verdi. The Italian composer is known for his masterpiece works, and this work is no exception. His piercing, sensual music emphasizes every emotion of the characters, every twist of the plot. And the plot is intricate, dynamic, it has intrigue and nerve.

At first glance, the center of the action is typical love triangle. Troubadour Manrico and Count di Luna are fighting for the heart of the beautiful Leonora. But the author of the play on which the opera is based, Antonio Garcia Gutierrez, decided not to limit himself to a love contest and turned desperate rivals into siblings separated in infancy. Yes, Manrico and di Luna are immediate family. As fate would have it, one child remained in the count's house and was raised in luxury, while the other was raised by the gypsy Azucena. By the way, her story also requires attention: the woman dreamed of taking revenge on the count’s family because her mother was executed. Having kidnapped one of the count's babies, she decided to throw him into the fire. But a fatal accident prevented her from killing the child: instead of the baby count, she threw her own son into the fire... Now an incredible struggle is taking place in her soul: on the one hand, the desire for revenge has only increased, on the other hand, over the many years of living next to Manrico, the gypsy woman has come to life in her soul maternal feelings.

And what about the beautiful Leonora? What does her heart tell her? Perhaps she has her own story behind her and reasons to choose one of the gentlemen? How will the brothers behave? Both do not know about family ties and only plan how to prick each other more offensively, and then decide to get rid of their competitor altogether. What will this confusion lead to and will happiness await the heroes at the end of a long journey? You can find out by ordering tickets for the opera “Troubadour” at the Helikon Opera on our website.

A very intense and emotional performance will give a lot of reasons for worry. Without taking their eyes off the stage, the audience will follow the fate of the heroes. Love and deceit, revenge and friendship will merge into a single impulse to create a truly luxurious performance.

Stage director: Dmitry Bertman
Stage conductor: Oliver Diaz (Spain)
Production designers: Igor Nezhny, Tatyana Tulubieva
Lighting designer: Damir Ismagilov
Choirmaster: Evgeniy Ilyin
Choreographer: Edvald Smirno