Again Verdi's masterpiece, again METopera, "Il Trovatore".
How could I describe this vendetta drama? Two brothers (neither of them know it) are killing each other and two women stand between them as a sourse of obsession--- one for love and other for hate. Every one of them are blindly single-minded (if not egoistic) and their acts are passionate but somehow stupid. They never stop to think twice and rush to the tragic end.
It's ultimately a revenge drama, but there seems to be no plot, no conspiracy, no plan for assasination (so different from "Simon Boccanegra"). The four characters act with sudden impulse. What makes them chase their goal are fear, blind love and jealousy. For example the heroine Leonora dies for love with almost instant decision. It's surely noble, but not as emotional as the touching fate of La Traviata nor as fragile as innocent Ophelia.
With all the astonishing lack of sensibility (I thought opera must be something more solemn and intelligent) however, it's powerfully attractive with Verdi's rich and heavenly beautiful music. When the elaborate music meets the madness, in the rough gypsy camp or in the dark dungeon, it sparkles with tense and excitement. It's an odd but gorgeous entertainment.
*Supplementary comment: I even imagined that what if Leonora was truly a younger sister who had been hidden because Count family feared another curse to their third child...and the brothers never knew their sister...even so, it might be only a little trick in this great chaos.
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