A LONG NIGHT AT THE OPERA: 

IL TROVATORE 

Adrian Korpel 

It all starts when the gypsy Azucena throws her own baby into the fire instead of the Count di Luna’s little baby brother which is surely a dumb thing to do, but who can blame her being confused what with seeing her mother burn at the stake for bewitching the count’s baby brother and noticing the Count’s sardonic grin, and so making a small mistake in dealing out vengeance, wouldn’t you have ? 

Azucena brings up this wrong baby B as her own son and names him Manrico, this being a manly name, but he becomes a troubadour also known as Trovatore, and then falls in love with a hefty lady singer called Leonore of whom as it happens the Count di Luna is also besotted, so the two become bitter enemies though they are brothers but don’t know that, are you with me so far? 

Now Leonora loves Manrico passionately at first sight, but the Count di Luna not so much as he sings bad Italian at her with a Russian accent, so of course the two men come to blows and Manrico wins in spite of being a small troubadour, but he makes the mistake of not killing the Count which really complicates matters and makes an opera much longer than it needs to be anyway, don’t you think? 

A number of hours pass while the two men sing not so much of being in love with Leonora as hating the other one for thinking he is more in love with her, but finally the Count di Luna gets the upper hand by treachery and deceit, and sends Manrico to the block whereupon Leonora poisons herself, and Azucena tells the Count he has killed his own brother which makes him gasp audibly just as the curtain falls. 

THE END