Manrico is overcome with despair and sorrow at the thought of this sacrifice she has made for him, and just as he catches her in his arms the Count de Luna enters. Lenora's devotion and courage do not touch the hardened Count; instead he is enraged to think he has thus lost his bride, and in great fury orders Manrico to immediate death. Not satisfied with this, he sees the gypsy and drags her to the window to witness her son's execution.
Not until she sees the axe fall upon the brave Man rico does she reveal her secret; in fine frenzy she tells of the true birth of her adopted son, and ends with the aw ful words "Thou hast slain thine own brother." Horror possesses the heart of the Count as he real izes that by the murder of his own brother the gypsy has been avenged for the death of her mother.
"Il Trovatore" gained immediate success, and has retained it undimmed for over fifty years, rivaling in ad miration in this country such well known operas as "Mar tha" and "The Bohemian Girl." It may be mentioned without hesitation in the list of a dozen operas which hold the boards securely. It is, of all Verdi's works, most firmly enshrined in the public heart. As "The Gypsy's
Vengeance" it was brought out in London in 1856; the following year it was heard in Paris as "Le Trouvere," and first produced in New York in 1855.
In reviewing this opera George Upton says "The whole opera is liberally enriched with melodies, and is dramatic throughout; but the last act is the crown of the work, and may successfully challenge comparison for beauty, variety, and dramatic effect with any other opera in the purely Italian school." The most popular number of the opera is the Miserere, "Ah, the la Morte " ("Ah, how release of death") sung by Manrico. Other notable passages are Leonora's song to the night, "Tacea la notte placida" ("The night so calmly dreaming "); the trio for Leonora, Manrico and Luna, with which the first act closes; the anvil chorus in the camp of the gypsies; Azucena's impassioned solo de scriptive of her mother's awful fate, "Stride la vampa " ("Hissing, the flames"); the Count's aria "Il balen;" Manrico's "high C" outburst, "Di quella pira" ("From flaming death-pyre "), and the duet for Manrico and Azu cena "Ai nostri Monti" ("Back to our mountains").