Il Trovatore

Act 1 - The duel

Scene 1 - A hall in the palace of Aliaferia

Ferrando, the captain of Count di Luna’s guard, is watching over his retainers as they keep guard through the night. They ask him to tell them a story to keep them awake, so as midnight approaches he recalls the story of how the Count’s brother was cursed by a gypsy as a baby (“Abbietta zingara”). The Count’s father caught the gypsy and burned her at the stake. In revenge, her daughter stole his baby and threw him into the fire. Full of grief, their father could not accept that his son was dead, and made his remaining son swear that he would devote his life to finding the gypsy’s daughter and wreaking vengeance. They must beware, however, if the stories are to be believed, the gypsy woman did not truly die but still walks the Earth as a black spirit troubling the people of the palace.

Scene 2 - The gardens of the palace

Leonora, the lady-in-waiting to the Princess of Aragon, is walking at night with her friend Inez, who is