from Act II - The Gypsy, Scene 1 of the Italian opera
Il Trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto: Salvatore Cammarano
Role: Azucena, an old gypsy woman, the supposed mother of Manrico
Voice Part: contralto Fach: contralto
Setting: A broken down shack in the Biscay Mountains, 1409.
Synopsis: Azucena tells Manrico the complete sequence of events that occurred at her mother's execution. She recounts that, as her mother was being burned at the stake, she cried out to Azucena to avenge her. Seeking this revenge, Azucena took the son of the Count of Luna at that time, planning to throw him into the same fire in which her mother died. In her madness, though, Azucena threw her own baby into the fire instead and kept the Count's son to herself. This mistake would make Manrico the brother of the current Count of Luna, but Azucena insists that Manrico is her son since she raised him and brought his health back when he was wounded.