JEALOUSY AND REVENGE EXPLODE ONTO THE SCOTTISH STAGE

Scottish Opera will perform Verdi’s full-blooded and monumental Il Trovatore in a fiery production set to match the grandeur and drama of the music.

Conjuring up the spirit of the Dark Ages, a world rife with superstition and ignorance, this turbulent tale follows an atrocious chain of events set in motion by an accusation of witchcraft. The stark, brooding lines of the set combine with the atmospheric lighting to create a majestic and menacing backdrop for an impressive cast and chorus of 50.


When the infant son of Count di Luna falls ill after a visit from a gypsy woman, she is burned at the stake for witchcraft. Driven by vengeance, her daughter Azucena abducts the child intending to kill him, but, in her delirium, throws her own son onto the fire. Years later, she has brought the Count’s son up as her own and he and his elder brother, unaware of their relationship, are rivals for the beautiful Leonora. Jealousy, revenge, love and hate collide as the opera crashes towards its spectacular conclusion.


Il Trovatore features some of the most extraordinary and rousing music ever written for opera which has the power to both engage the audience and ignite the senses. Verdi’s score is packed full of familiar melodies, from the exhilarating Anvil Chorus and Manrico’s energetic ‘Di quella pira’ to the spine-tingling Miserere.


Director Martin Lloyd-Evans (The Pirates of Penzance 2013) returns to Scottish Opera to take a fresh look at the 2001 production, restaging it to tease out the psychological truth behind the characters’ extreme actions.


The cast boasts some of the UK’s most exceptional singers, including soprano Claire Rutter, who sings the role of Leonora for the first time, having made her debut with Scottish Opera in 1995. 

Claire has sung ten other Verdi heroines throughout her career and has sung the role of Violetta in La Traviata 60 times with Scottish Opera alone. In 2014, she captivated audiences as the title character in Scottish Opera’s concert performance of Puccini’s Turandot.

Making his debut with the Company, renowned Welsh tenor Gwyn Hughes Jones sings the role of Manrico, a role that he has previously sung at The Metropolitan Opera, New York.

Anne Mason, who has sung at the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera and who sang the role of Fricka in Scottish Opera’s production of The Ring Cycle in 2003, sings the role of Azucena. 

Roland Wood, who sang the role of Albert in Scottish Opera’s production of Werther in 2013 and Oedipus in English National Opera’s production of Thebans in 2014, sings the role of Count di Luna. 

Conductor Tobias Ringborg (Così fan tutte 2009, Rigoletto 2011) makes a welcome return to Scottish Opera.

Cast List
Leonora Claire Rutter
Manrico Gwyn Hughes Jones
Azucena Anne Mason
Count di Luna Roland Wood

Ferrando Jonathan May

Inez Naomi Harvey
Ruiz Carlos Fidalgo

Creative Team
Conductors Tobias Ringborg,

Derek Clark (4 & 6 June)
Director Martin Lloyd Evans
Lighting Robert B Dickson
Movement Director Kally Lloyd Jones
Fight Director Raymond Short

Performance Diary
Theatre Royal, Hope Street, Glasgow G2 3QA
Thu 7 May 7.15pm

Sat 9 May 7.15pm

Tue 12 May 7.15pm

Thu 14 May 7.15pm

Sun 17 May 4pm



Free events
Il trovatore Unwrapped

Mon 11 May 6pm


Pre-show talk

Sun 17 May 2.45pm


Touch Tour

Sun 17 May 2.45pm



Festival Theatre, Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9FT
Thu 21 May 7.15pm

Sun 24 May 4pm

Wed 27 May 7.15pm

Sat 30 May 7.15pm



Free events


Il trovatore Unwrapped

Fri 22 May 6pm



Pre-show talk

Sat 30 May 6pm

Touch Tour

Sun 24 May 2.45pm



Eden Court, Bishops Road, Inverness IV3 5SA

Thu 4 Jun 7.15pm

Sat 6 Jun 7.15pm



Free events



Il trovatore Unwrapped

Fri 5 Jun 6pm



Pre-show talk

Sat 6 Jun 6pm



Touch Tour

Sat 6 Jun 6pm





His Majesty’s Theatre, Rosemount Viaduct, Aberdeen AB25 1GL
Thu 11 Jun 7.30pm

Sat 13 Jun 7.30pm



Free events



Il trovatore Unwrapped

Fri 12 Jun 6pm



Pre-show talk

Sat 13 Jun 6pm



Touch Tour

Sat 13 Jun 6pm