2025-2026 OPERA AND BALLET SEASON
IL TROVATORE (THE TROUBADOUR)
by Giuseppe Verdi
An opera in four acts to a libretto by Salvatore Cammarano after El trovador by Antonio Garcia Gutiérrez. First performance: Teatro Apollo, Rome, 19 January 1853 – Music Publisher: E. F. Kalmus & Co., New York
Conductor JORDI BERNÀCER
Director LOUIS DÉSIRÉ
Set and Costume designer DIEGO MÉNDEZ CASARIEGO
Light designer PATRICK MÉEÜS
Assistant Director JEAN CHRISTOPHE MAST
Assistant Set and Costume Designer CYRIL COSSON
Assistant Light Designer ANNIC NOLWENN
Choir master PAOLO LONGO
A co-production with Opéra de Saint-Étienne and Opéra de Marseille. Premiere: 17 November 2023, Opéra de Saint-Étienne. Sets, costumes and props constructed in the workshops of Opéra de Saint-Étienne
Characters and performers
Manrico
YUSIF EYVAZOV (27 Feb; 1, 6, 8 Mar)
SAMUELE SIMONCINI (28 Feb; 7 Mar)
Leonora
ANNA PIROZZI (27 Feb; 1, 6, 8 Mar)
ALESSIA NADIN (28 Feb; 7 Mar)
Conte di Luna
YOUNGJUN PARK (27 Feb; 1, 6, 8 Mar)
DANIELE TERENZI (28 Feb; 7 Mar)
Azucena
DANIELA BARCELLONA (27 Feb; 1, 6, 8 Mar)
CHIARA MOGINI (28 Feb; 7 Mar)
Ferrando
CARLO LEPORE (27 Feb; 1, 6, 8 Mar)
YONGHENG DONG (28 Feb; 7 Mar)
Ines ERICA ZULIKHA BENATO
Ruiz ANDREA BINETTI
A messenger ALESSANDRO DI DOMENICO
An old gypsy DANIELE CUSARI
Orchestra, choir and technical staff of the Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste
After an absence of eight years, one of Verdi’s most important operas returns to Trieste: Il Trovatore, presented with a stellar cast. Highlights include Anna Pirozzi’s impeccable Leonora; Yusif Eyvazov, making his debut in Trieste; Youngjun Park and Daniele Terenzi sharing the role of Conte di Luna; and Daniela Barcellona, appearing for the first time as Azucena. The French production by director Louis Désiré – often referred to as the “Il Trovatore Rosso” (The Red Troubadour) – is compelling in its dramatic clarity and visual restraint, while musical direction is in the assured hands of Jordi Bernàcer. Following the Trieste performances, the production will be presented in Udine on 14 March.
First performed in Trieste in 1853, just ten months after its Roman premiere, Il Trovatore was an immediate success at the Teatro Verdi, returning in almost every season of that decade. Since then, the allure of this dark and intricately woven Spanish drama, its folkloric elements deliberately pared back in the score, has never ceased to captivate audiences in Trieste. It now returns after an eight-year absence in a production widely praised for its powerful visual impact, built on bold contrasts of colour and rich symbolism, while remaining entirely true to the libretto. Director Louis Désiré’s staging, first presented in Marseille in 2023, heightens the opera’s brooding psychological atmosphere, transforming each scene into a strikingly stylised tableau of considerable visual allure and emotional immediacy. On the podium is the distinguished Spanish conductor Jordi Bernàcer, a seasoned interpreter of the score and a natural partner for a cast that is not simply an assembly of celebrated names, but a finely attuned company of artists who have shared the stage at many of the world’s leading opera houses. Their longstanding collaboration and artistic affinity lend an additional depth and expressive cohesion to the performance. Manrico is sung by Yusif Eyvazov, who has brought the role to major international stages, from Paris to the Arena di Verona and the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. He is joined by the Sienese tenor Samuele Simoncini, himself an accomplished interpreter of Manrico and already well known to Trieste audiences for his Andrea Chénier in 2019. Leonora is entrusted to one of the foremost interpreters of the role today, the Neapolitan soprano Anna Pirozzi, whose career has taken her to the principal stages of Vienna, London, Paris, Madrid and New York. She is joined by the young soprano Alessia Nadin, making her role debut following a distinguished bel canto career that has already brought her success in Trieste as Giovanna Seymour in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena. Conte di Luna will be shared by two accomplished young baritones: Youngjun Park, long a favourite with Verdi audiences, and Daniele Terenzi. A particularly significant moment will be the role debut of Azucena by one of the Teatro Verdi’s most cherished artists, the Triestine mezzo-soprano Daniela Barcellona. Internationally renowned for her bel canto and Rossini interpretations, she has in recent seasons broadened her repertoire with performances including Aida at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Brangäne in Bilbao and Verdi’s Requiem at La Scala. She alternates in the role with the young Chiara Mogini, a rising mezzo-soprano who will appear at La Fenice in Venice this May in Lohengrin. Ferrando will be sung by the distinguished bass Carlo Lepore and the young Chinese bass Yongheng Dong. The cast is completed by Erika Zulikha Benato as Ines and Andrea Binetti as Ruiz.
During the run, the theatre will offer its full range of additional services, including a dedicated taxi arrangement and the Victor de Sabata Lounge, where interval refreshments will be served in collaboration with Cêmut – Piccola Osteria Furlana on opening night. The printed opera libretto is also available for purchase, together with a collectible pop-up postcard depicting one of the most iconic landmarks of the Borgo Teresiano: the Teatro Verdi di Trieste.
A Friday 27 February 2026, 8.00 pm
C Saturday 28 February 2026, 6.00 pm
D Sunday 1 March 2026, 4.00 pm
B Friday 6 March 2026, 8.00 pm
S Saturday 7 March 2026, 4.00 pm
E Sunday 8 March 2026, 4.00 pm
Udine, Saturday 14 March 2026