A ruined Spanish theatre sets the stage as Melbourne Opera presents Verdi’s haunting Il Trovatore – a tale of love, power and revenge, brought to life through some of the composer’s most celebrated music, at the Athenaeum Theatre this August.
Melbourne Opera’s production of Il Trovatore is dedicated to the memory of Dame Joan Sutherland, AC DBE, in celebration of her centenary year. One of the world’s greatest opera singers, Dame Sutherland was a Founding Patron of Melbourne Opera and a close friend of the company’s Patron-in-Chief, Lady Primrose Potter. The superstar singer played Il Trovatore‘s Leonora to widespread acclaim from the 1950s-80s.
Visionary director Matthew Barclay joins the company for Il Trovatore, whose recent projects include work for Sydney Festival, Opera Australia and West Australian Opera.
“At the heart of our production is the idea that Il Trovatore does not behave like realism. Its story is extreme, irrational and feverish – and that is precisely where its power lies,” says Barclay. “A curse, a buried crime, inherited trauma, revenge – all of it becomes fuel for the characters.”
Internationally acclaimed artists Helena Dix (Norma at The Met New York, Aida at Sydney Opera House) and Rosario La Spina (Opera Australia’s Turandot) return to the Melbourne Opera stage as the ill-fated lovers Leonora and Manrico.
“It’s such an honour to step into the role that Dame Sutherland performed, in celebration of her 100th birthday. Il Trovatore is one of the greatest operas of our time, and certainly of Verdi’s,” says Dix, who has returned to live in Melbourne following many years in London. “From start to finish it’s exciting, it’s vocally thrilling and there’s not a moment when you shouldn’t be absolutely enthralled and engaged.”
Rosario La Spina won a Green Room Award for his performance as Samson in Melbourne Opera’s Samson et Dalila (2025). “The world has been presented with many shocking and brutal stories, and Il Trovatore is as shocking as any of them. The difference is that Verdi has given us a musical score that is so full and rich that it has lasted forever,” says Rosario.
Dix and La Spina are joined by three-time Green Room award nominee Sarah Sweeting as Azucena (The Ring Cycle, Tannhäuser) and Christopher Hillier as Conte di Luna, following his multi award nominated Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Steven Gallop (Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Welsh National Opera) returns to Melbourne Opera to play Ferrando. Former Richard Divall Program artist Amanda Windred sings Ines.
Il Trovatore (The Troubador) revolves around four characters. Manrico (the troubadour), Azucena (his mother at the unhinged heart of the opera), Leonora (noblewoman in love with Manrico) and Count di Luna (Manrico’s rival, obsessed with Leonora).
They confront each other with fiery emotion fueled by mistaken revenge, as doomed love and vicious rivalry clash in an opera that features some of the most celebrated music in the repertoire.
Conductor Raymond Lawrence (Don Giovanni, Samson et Dalila, Maria Stuarda) will interpret immortalised arias such as Di quella pira, Stride la vampa and Tacea la notte placida. The production features the lauded Melbourne Opera Orchestra and Chorus, who will perform Il Trovatore‘s rousing music including the famous Anvil Chorus.
Acclaimed opera director Suzanne Chaundy has been appointed Executive Director of Melbourne Opera, following her acclaimed work on Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Royal Exhibition Building and the internationally acclaimed Bendigo Ring Cycle.
In the new role, Chaundy will use her considerable strategic management experience in the not-for-profit sector to oversee Melbourne Opera’s future development as a company dedicated to supporting local artists, developing new talent and presenting operas that audiences love.
The company’s ambitious staging of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg was a major winner in the inaugural OperaChaser Critics Awards (OCCAs), announced in February.
Il Trovatore
Athenaeum Theatre, 188 Collins Street, Melbourne
Season: 23 – 30 August 2026
Bookings: www.ticketmaster.com.au
For more information, visit: www.melbourneopera.com for details.
Image: Helena Dix on the Melbourne Opera stage – photo by Robin Halls