"Il Trovatore" opens Friday night at UAO

Union Avenue Opera opens its fifteenth season with the Italian masterpiece Il Trovatore ("The Troubadour"), in which fast-paced action is propelled by an irresistible stream of haunting melody. Verdi's favorite themes of destiny and desire are threaded through this suspenseful story of a corrupt count, a dashing troubadour and a gypsy who plots to avenge her mother's wrongful death. St. Louis audiences have not seen a production of Il Trovatore since 1935 when the Metropolitan Opera brought a touring production to the Kiel Opera House. For a full synopsis of the opera please click here.

(Photo: Alexandra LoBianco & Eric Ashcraft)

Tenor Eric Ashcraft, who UAO audiences will remember as Calaf in 2004's Turandot, returns to sing Manrico (the troubadour). Two singers making their UAO debut include Baritone Thomas Beard as Conte di Luna (the count) and Soprano Alexandra LoBianco as the noblewoman Leonora. Mezzo-soprano Veronica McHale, last seen as La Zia Principessa in 2007's Suor Angelica, sings the crazed gypsy Azucena. Rounding out the cast, Bass Patrick Blackwell--Ludovico in last season's Otello--sings the role of Ferrando, the count's right hand man.

In a recent article from Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, UAO Artistic Director/Conductor Scott Schoonover discusses the challenges and strategy of bringing a large-scale opera into the theatrical space of Union Avenue Christian Church:

[Il Trovatore is] one of the grandest of grand operas, and might seem a surprising choice for a company whose theater is comfortable but on the small side, with a stage and pit that won't accommodate large forces.

"It's probably not what Verdi had in mind, in terms of huge chorus numbers," said artistic director Scott Schoonover, who's doing it with just 16 choristers. "On a big stage, it wouldn't work."

Schoonover, who will conduct, said he's made up for it by selecting singers with big voices and by commissioning a new chamber version of the score. The orchestration is by Californian Bryan Higgins, who successfully shrank Puccini's "Suor Angelica" and "Gianni Schicchi." Higgins has reduced the orchestra to just 26 players.

Last week, UAO Artistic Director/Conductor Scott Schoonover, stage director Mark Meier and Soprano Alexandra LoBianco sat down with Steve Potter of Cityscape on 90.7 KWMU to discuss the production of Il Trovatore as well as the coming season. Click here to listen (interview located on July 3 archive, Segment A).

Il Trovatore opens Friday, July 10 and will run for three more performances on July 11, 17 & 18. All performances begin at 8pm and take place at Union Avenue Christian Church located at 733 N. Union Blvd in St. Louis. Sung in Italian with projected English supertitles.

To purchase tickets or find more information about Union Avenue Opera, please call 314.361.2881 or visit the UAO Website.