Verdi's Il trovatore in Building a Library with Roger Parker and Andrew McGregor
Roger Parker picks his favourite version of Verdi's opera Il trovatore, and Sarah Walker selects some of the best new releases.
Andrew McGregor with the best new recordings of classical music.
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Sarah Walker shares her choice of the latest classical releases
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Building a Library
Verdi's Il trovatore with Roger Parker
Written hot on the heels of Rigoletto, and premiered just two months before La traviata, Il trovatore (The Troubador) is one of Verdi's most dramatic operas, and one of his most popular successes. It is packed with great music, including the bombastic 鈥楢nvil Chorus鈥�, Azucena鈥檚 鈥楽tride la vampa鈥� (The flame crackles!) and tenor Manrico鈥檚 heroic 鈥楧i quella pira鈥� (The flames of the pyre). The story, based on a play by Antonio Garc铆a Guti茅rrez, has been described as "a high-flown, sprawling melodrama, packed with all manner of fantastic and bizarre incident."
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Record of the Week: Andrew鈥檚 top pick.
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