According to Enrico Caruso, all that’s needed for a successful performance of Il Trovatore is “the four greatest singers in the world”. Indeed, of the operatic trio that cemented Verdi’s fame in his Middle Period—Rigoletto, La Traviata, and Il Trovatore—the latter most prominently showcases the virtuosity of all four principals. A turbulent tragedy of family strife and forbidden love, this operatic jewel, with its soaring lyricism and memorable melodies, has remained a perennial favorite, despite the unlikely twists and turns in the plot.

In this course, we will view videos and historic recordings of the opera; the use of bilingual (Italian-English) video-subtitles and libretti will introduce and/or reinforce salient aspects of the musical Italian language, while deepening appreciation of that interrelationship between the music and the language which is unique to opera.

The instructor will host an optional trip to Lincoln Center, NY, for the Metropolitan Opera’s stunning production (Sunday, November 17, 3:00 p.m.), and to a local production of the opera in the spring (dates and details TBA) by Boheme Opera NJ, under the baton of Maestro Pucciatti.

Text: All required materials will be supplied by the instructor. Recommended Texts (available on-line from Amazon): Seven Verdi Librettos: English and Italian Edition (William Weaver, W. W. Norton & Company: 1977), ISBN-10: 0393008525 / ISBN-13:978-0393008524; Langenscheidt Universal Dictionary Italian: Italian-English / English-Italian (Pons Gmbh, Bilingual edition: 2017), ISBN-10: 3125140374 / ISBN-13: 978-3125140370.