A Buxton International Festival production, featuring the Orchestra of Opera North.
Ernani is the opera that propelled Verdi to worldwide fame but has since become one of his lesser-performed works. It was his first collaboration with librettist Francesco Maria Piave, a hugely successful pairing that was followed by La traviata and Rigoletto.
The story is one of vengeance, conspiracy, and love; set in a world where honour and chivalry are valued above all else. It centres on the outlaw Ernani who is plotting to depose Don Carlos, the King of Spain, to avenge his father’s murder. The woman he loves, Elvira, is engaged to her guardian, the grandee de Silva, against her will. When the young lovers plan to elope they are discovered by de Silva and the king, who kidnaps Elvira for himself. What price is Ernani prepared to pay to rescue the woman he loves, and for justice? As the horn sounds for the moment of his reckoning, will there be a happy ever after?
Ernani will be conducted by the Festival’s Artistic Director Adrian Kelly. Director Jamie Manton makes a welcome return to Buxton, following his critically acclaimed production of Eugene Onegin (2019). Since then, he’s enjoyed great success with English National Opera, The Canadian Opera Company and Nevil Holt Opera.
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the 1830 play Hernani by Victor Hugo.
Sung in Italian with English surtitles.
Creative Team
Adrian Kelly Conductor
Jamie Manton Director
Sami Fendall Designer
Cast
Roman Arndt Ernani
André Heyboer Don Carlo
Alastair Miles Don Ruy Gomez de Silva
Nadine Benjamin Elvira
Jane Burnell Giovanna
Emyr Lloyd Jones Don Riccardo
Theo Perry Jago