Luigi Perego, set and costume designer
Lorenzo Fratini, chorus master
Luigi Saccomandi, lighting designer

Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino)

Cast:
Il Conte di Luna: Leon Kim
Leonora: Carolina López Moreno
Manrico: Matteo Desole
Acuzena: Olesya Petrova
Ferrando: Giorgi Manoshvili
Ines: Olha Smokolina
Ruiz: Alfonso Zambuto

Composed in 1853, Il tovatore  is one of the works in which Verdi, with dramaturgical effectiveness, associated specific keys with particular figures or groups in order to clearly represent the differences between the characters and the social ranks they occupied. This year’s performance of the opera is by the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, in collaboration with director Stefania Grazioli,  in a revival of the production originally directed by Cesare Lievi. The latter has described Il trovatore  as a nocturnal opera in which the characters move in a desolate landscape. The orchestra will be conducted by Zubin Mehta, who during his most recent visit, in 2019, received the Golden Order of Merit from then president of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, in recognition of his supreme contribution to musical performance. The chorus will be directed by Lorenzo Fratini. The main roles will be sung by Leon Kim, who after completing his bachelor’s degree in his native Korea went on to pursue specialised studies in Italy, where he has won several prizes (including first prize at the Cappuccilli-Patanè-Respighi Competition); Carolina López Moreno, who has performed in concert halls such as Carnegie Hall and the Berliner Philharmonie (Berlin Philharmonic); Matteo Desole, who often collaborates with the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation; and Olesya Petrova, who has worked with acclaimed conductors such as Giordano Bellincampi, Emmanuel Villaume and Valery Gergiev.

• Il trovatore  was an immediate popular success, with 229 productions around the world in the three years following its 1853 premiere in Naples
• the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino developed from the prestigious festival Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the oldest classical music festival in Italy and the second oldest in Europe (after the Salzburg Festival)
• it was founded in 1933 for the purpose of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas
• Zubin Mehta is also an honorary citizen of Florence
• he is mentioned in Frank Zappa’s song Billy the Mountain  and appeared with Frank Zappa’s group the Mothers of Invention in a live performance of Zappa’s 200 Motels  in 1970