Editing Il trovatore (section)

==Performance history==
'''In Italian as ''Il trovatore'' '''
[[File:Carlo Baucarde.jpg|thumb|150px|Tenor Carlo Baucardé sang Manrico]]
[[File:MadamePenco.jpg|thumb|150px| Soprano Rosina Penco sang Leonora]]
[[File:Emilia Goggi.jpg|thumb|150px|Mezzo Emilia Goggi sang Azucena]]
[[File:Giovanni Guicciardi by De Crescenzo.jpg|thumb|150px|Baritone Giovanni Guicciardi sang di Luna]]
The opera's immense popularity – albeit a popular success rather than a critical one – came from some 229 productions worldwide in the three years following its premiere on 19 January 1853,<ref name="Martin">{{Cite journal |last=Martin |first=George Whitney |title=Verdi Onstage in the United States: ''Le trouvère''|journal=[[The Opera Quarterly]]|volume=21 |issue=2 |date=Spring 2005 |pages=282–302 |doi=10.1093/oq/kbi018|s2cid=192135165 }}</ref> and is illustrated by the fact that "in Naples, for example, where the opera in its first three years had eleven stagings in six theaters, the performances totalled 190".<ref name="Martin" />

First given in Paris in Italian on 23 December 1854 by the [[Théâtre-Italien]] at the [[Salle Ventadour]],<ref name=Pitou>{{harvnb|Pitou|1990|p=1333}}</ref> the cast included [[Lodovico Graziani]] as Manrico and [[Adelaide Borghi-Mamo]] as Azucena.{{sfn|Budden|1984|p=107}}<ref>[[Elizabeth Forbes (musicologist)|Forbes, Elizabeth]], "Borghi-Mamo [née Borghi], Adelaide" in [[#Sadie|Sadie]], vol. 1, p. 549.</ref>

''Il trovatore'' was first performed in the US by the [[Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company]] on 2 May 1855 at the then-recently opened [[Academy of Music (New York City)|Academy of Music in New York]]. The cast included [[Balbina Steffenone]] as Leonora, [[Pasquale Brignoli]] as Manrico, [[Felicita Vestvali]] as Azucena, and [[Alessandro Amodio]] as the Count di Luna.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1093&context=vf|title=The First Three Years of 'Trovatore'|author= Martin Chusid|publisher=[[New York University Press]]|journal=Verdi Forum|number=15|date=January 1, 1987|page=44}}</ref> The work's UK premiere took place on 10 May 1855 at [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] in London, with [[Jenny Bürde-Ney]] as Leonora, [[Enrico Tamberlik]] as Manrico, [[Pauline Viardot]] as Azucena and [[Francesco_Graziani_(baritone)|Francesco Graziani]] as the Conte di Luna.{{sfn|Kimbell|2001|p=993}}<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vEYA8_RARL0C&q=%22Boston+Theatre%22+%22Max+Maretzek%22&pg=PA81|title=Verdi in America: Oberto Through Rigoletto|author=George Whitney Martin|page=81|publisher=University Rochester Press|year=2011|isbn=9781580463881}}</ref>

As the 19th century proceeded there was a decline in interest, but ''Il trovatore'' saw a revival of interest after [[Arturo Toscanini|Toscanini]]'s 1902 revivals. From its performance at the [[Metropolitan Opera|Met]] on 26 October 1883 the opera has been a staple of its repertoire.<ref>{{cite web|title=Il trovatore|url=http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm|website=Met Opera Archives|access-date=26 March 2018|archive-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812164001/http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Today, almost all performances use the Italian version and it is one of the world's most frequently performed operas.<ref>{{cite web |title= Opera Statistics |url= http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en#opera |publisher= Operabase |access-date=30 July 2013}}</ref>

'''In French as ''Le trouvère'' '''

After the successful presentation of the opera in Italian in Paris, François-Louis Crosnier, director of l'[[Opéra de Paris]], proposed that Verdi revise his opera for the Paris audience as a [[grand opera]], which would include a ballet, to be presented on the stage of the major Paris house. While Verdi was in Paris with [[Giuseppina Strepponi]] from late July 1855, working on the completion of ''[[Aroldo]]'' and beginning to prepare a libretto with Piave for what would become ''[[Simon Boccanegra]]'', he encountered some legal difficulties in dealing with Toribio Calzado, the impresario of the Théâtre des Italiens, and, with his contacts with the Opėra, agreed to prepare a French version of ''Trovatore'' on 22 September 1855.

A translation of Cammarano's libretto was made by librettist [[Émilien Pacini]] under the title of ''Le trouvère'' and it was first performed at [[La Monnaie]] in Brussels on 20 May 1856.{{sfn|Pitou|1990|p=1333}} There followed the production at the [[Paris Opera]]'s [[Salle Le Peletier]] on 12 January 1857 after which Verdi returned to Italy. Emperor [[Napoleon III]] and Empress [[Eugénie de Montijo|Eugénie]] attended the latter performance.<ref name=Pitou />

For the French premiere, Verdi made some changes to the score of ''Le trouvère'' including the addition of music for the ballet in act 3 which followed the soldiers' chorus, where gypsies danced to entertain them. The quality of Verdi's ballet music has been noted by scholar [[Charles Osborne (music writer)|Charles Osborne]]: "He could have been the Tchaikovsky of Italian ballet" he states, continuing to praise it as "perfect ballet music". In addition, he describes the unusual practice of Verdi having woven in themes from the gypsy chorus of act 2, ballet music for opera rarely connecting with the themes of the work.{{sfn|Osborne|1977|p=259}} Several other revisions focused on Azucena's music, including an extended version of the finale of act 4, to accommodate the role's singer [[Adelaide Borghi-Mamo]]. Some of these changes have even been used in modern performances in Italian.{{sfn|Budden|1984|pp=107–111}}{{sfn|Pitou|1990|pp=158–159}}

In 1990 [[Tulsa Opera]] presented the first staging of ''Le trouvère'' in the United States using a new critical edition by musicologist, conductor, and Verdi scholar David Lawton.<ref name="TW">{{cite work|url=https://tulsaworld.com/archive/le-trouvere-dazzles-despite-the-plot/article_18e14005-c125-5a67-868f-ffd14d733955.html|title=Le Trouvere' dazzles, despite the plot|author=Ellis Widner|date=November 5, 1990}}</ref> Recorded live for broadcast on [[NPR]], Lawton conducted the premiere with [[Margaret Jane Wray]] as Leonore, Craig Sirianni as Manrique, [[Greer Grimsley]] as Le Comte de Luna, [[Barbara Conrad]] as Azucena, and the [[Tulsa Philharmonic]].<ref name="TW"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Tulsa Opera Chronicles|author=Jack A. Williams and Laven Sowell|publisher=Tulsa Historical Society|year=1992|page=82}}</ref> This version was published by Ricordi and the University of Chicago Press in 2001.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MaIZnGddRsQC&dq=Le+trouvère+David+Lawton&pg=PA328|title=Giuseppe Verdi: A Guide to Research|author=Gregory W. Harwood|year=1998|pages=327–328|publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=9780824041175 }}</ref> An updated version of this critical edition by Lawton was published by Ricordi in 2018, and given its premiere at the [[Teatro Regio (Parma)|Festival Verdi]] in Parma that same year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ricordi.com/en-US/News/2018/10/Verdi-Le-trouvere-new-crit-edition.aspx|title=Verdi: Le trouvère|date=October 2, 2018|work=www.ricordi.com}}</ref>

Rarely given in French, it was presented as part of the 1998 [[Festival della Valle d'Itria]]<ref>[http://www.operadis-opera-discography.org.uk/CLVETROV.HTM List of recordings in all languages on operadis-opera-discography.org] Retrieved 28 March 2013</ref> and in 2002 ''Le trouvère'' appeared as part of the [[Sarasota Opera]]'s "Verdi Cycle" of all the composer's work.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sarasotaopera.org/repertoire.aspx |title=Sarasota Opera repertoire of Verdi operas presented |access-date=2013-03-29 |archive-date=2013-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404092332/http://www.sarasotaopera.org/repertoire.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>