Editing Il trovatore (section)

==Composition history==
[[File:Verdi-1850s.jpg|thumb|Verdi around 1850]]
How and when Verdi acquired a copy of the García Gutiérrez play is uncertain, but Budden notes that it appears that [[Giuseppina Strepponi]], with whom Verdi had been living in [[Busseto]] since September 1849, had translated the play, as evidenced in a letter from her two weeks before the premiere urging him to "hurry up and give OUR ''Trovatore''".<ref>Strepponi to Verdi, 3 January 1853, in {{harvnb|Budden|1984|p=59}}. Her emphasis on the "OUR".</ref>

When considering setting García Gutiérrez's play, Verdi turned to work with Cammarano, "the born operatic poet" (according to Budden).<ref>{{harvnb|Budden|1984|p=60}}: Budden notes that it is with this librettist that the composer hoped to work on his project for adapting [[Re Lear|''King Lear'']]</ref> Their correspondence began as early as January 1850, well before Verdi had done anything to develop a libretto with [[Francesco Maria Piave|Piave]] for what later became ''Rigoletto'' in Venice. At this time, it was also the first since ''[[Oberto (opera)|Oberto]]'' that the composer was beginning to prepare an opera with a librettist but without a commission of any kind from an opera house. In his first letter to Cammarano, Verdi proposed ''El Trovador'' as the subject with "two feminine roles. The first, the gypsy, a woman of unusual character after whom I want to name the opera."<ref>Verdi to Cammarano, 2 January 1850, in {{harvnb|Werfel|Stefan|1973|pp=149–150}}. [The implication here is that the opera would be named ''Azucena''.]</ref>

With regard to the chosen librettist's strength as a poet in preparing verse for opera, Budden also comments that his approach was very traditional,<ref name="BUDDto64">{{harvnb|Budden|1984|pp=61–64}}</ref> something which began to become clear during the preparation of the libretto and which appears in the correspondence between the two men.

===Relationship with Cammarano===
[[File:Salvadore Cammarano.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Librettist Salvadore Cammarano]]
Verdi's time and energy were spent mostly on finishing ''Rigoletto,'' which premiered at [[La Fenice]] in Venice in March 1851. Within a matter of weeks, Verdi was expressing his frustration to a mutual friend, [[Cesare De Sanctis (businessman)|Cesare De Sanctis]], at having no communication from Cammarano.<ref name="VtoS">Verdi to De Sanctis (their mutual friend), 29 March 1851, in {{harvnb|Budden|1984|p=61}}</ref> His letter emphasized that "the bolder he is, the happier it will make me,"<ref name="VtoS" /> although it appears that Cammarano's reply contained several objections, which Verdi answered on 4 April and, in his response, he emphasized certain aspects of the plot which were important to him. These included Leonora taking the veil and also the importance of the Azucena/Manrico relationship. He continued by asking whether the librettist liked the drama and emphasized that "the more unusual and bizarre the better".

Verdi also writes that if there were no standard forms – "cavatinas, duets, trios, choruses, finales, etc. [....] and if you could avoid beginning with an opening chorus...."<ref>Verdi to Cammarano, 4 April 1851, in {{harvnb|Budden|1984|p=61}}</ref> he would be quite happy. Correspondence continued between the two men for the following two months or so, including another letter from the composer of 9 April which included three pages of suggestions. But he also made concessions and expresses his happiness in what he is receiving in the way of verse.<ref>Verdi to Cammarano, 26 June 1851, in {{harvnb|Budden|1984|p=62}}</ref>

During the period to follow, in spite of his preoccupations but especially after he had begun to overcome them, Verdi had kept in touch with the librettist. In a letter around the time of his intended departure for France, he wrote encouragingly to Cammarano: "I beg you with all my soul to finish this ''Trovatore'' as quickly as you possibly can."<ref>Verdi to Cammarano, 1 October 1851, in {{harvnb|Phillips-Matz|1993|p=306}}.</ref>

===Preoccupations and delays in 1851–1852===

There then arose the question of where the opera would eventually be presented. Verdi had turned down an offer from Naples, but became concerned about the availability of his preferred Azucena, Rita Gabussi-De Bassini. She turned out not to be on the Naples roster, but expressed an interest in the possibility of Rome.

Things were put on hold for several months as Verdi became preoccupied with family matters, which included the illnesses of both his mother (who died in July) and father, the estrangement from his parents with communications conducted only between lawyers, and the administration of his newly acquired property at Sant'Agata (now the [[Villa Verdi]] near his hometown of Busseto), where he had established his parents.{{sfn|Phillips-Matz|1993|p=287}} But his relationship with his parents, albeit legally severed, as well as Strepponi's situation living with the composer in an unmarried state, continued to preoccupy him, as did the deterioration of his relationship with his father-in-law, Antonio Barezzi.{{sfn|Phillips-Matz|1993|pp=293–294}} Finally, in April 1851, agreement was reached with the elder Verdis on the payment of debts mutually owed and the couple were given time to resettle, leaving Sant'Agata for Verdi and Strepponi to occupy for the next fifty years.

May 1851 brought an offer for a new opera from the Venice authorities, and it was followed by an agreement with the Rome Opera company to present ''Trovatore'' during the 1852/1853 Carnival season, specifically in January 1853.<ref name="BUDDto64" />

By November Verdi and Strepponi left Italy to spend the winter of 1851/52 in Paris, where he concluded an agreement with the [[Paris Opéra]] to write what became ''[[Les vêpres siciliennes]]'', his first [[grand opera]], although he had adapted his earlier ''[[I Lombardi]]'' into ''[[Jérusalem]]'' for the stage. Including work on ''Trovatore'', other projects consumed him, but a significant event occurred in February, when the couple attended a performance of ''[[The Lady of the Camellias]]'' by [[Alexandre Dumas fils|Alexandre Dumas ''fils'']]. What followed is reported by Verdi's biographer [[Mary Jane Phillips-Matz]] who states that the composer revealed that, after seeing the play, he immediately began to compose music for what would later become ''La traviata''.{{sfn|Phillips-Matz|1993|p=303}}

The couple returned to Sant'Agata by mid-March 1852 and Verdi immediately began work on ''Trovatore'' after a year's delay.

===Death of Cammarano and work with Bardare===
Then, in July 1852, by way of an announcement in a theatrical journal, Verdi received news of Cammarano's death earlier that month. This was both a professional and a personal blow. The composer learned that Cammarano had completed Manrico's third-act aria, "Di quella pira" just eight days before his death, but now he turned to De Sanctis to find him another librettist. [[Leone Emanuele Bardare]] was a young poet from Naples who was beginning his career; eventually he wrote more than 15 librettos before 1880.{{sfn|Phillips-Matz|1993|p=307}} Composer and librettist met in Rome around 20 December 1852 and Verdi began work on both ''Trovatore'' and ''La traviata''.

His main aim, having changed his mind about the distribution of characters in the opera, was to enhance the role of Leonora, thus making it "a two-women opera"{{sfn|Budden|1984|pp=65–66}} and he communicated many of these ideas ahead of time via letters to De Sanctis over several months. Leonora now was to have a cantabile for the Miserere as well as retaining "Tacea la Notte" in act 1 with its cabaletta. Changes were also made to Azucena's "Stride la vampa" and to the Count's lines. Taking into account the last-minute requirements of the censor and the consequent changes, overall, the revisions and changes enhanced the opera, and the result was that it was a critical and a popular success.