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 ‘Anvil Chorus’, Azucena’s ‘Stride la vampa’ (The flame crackles!) and tenor Manrico’s heroic ‘Di quella pira’ (The flames of the pyre). The story, based on a play by Antonio GarcÃa Gutiérrez, 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’s top pick.
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