Statement of the problem. The operatic work by G. Verdi is considered to be quite thoroughly studied in terms of musical language, specifics of composition and dramaturgy, the history of the creation of operas and purely plot studies. Nevertheless, due to the peculiarities of the libretto of Verdi’s “Il Trovatore”, much in this opera has remained beyond the attention of scholars. In particular, such terra incognita include the definition of who is the central character of the opera, as well as what is the motivation basis of character Azucena defining heroine’s actions. The proposed article follows the line of research on the plot of the opera and its characters, contributing to revelation of Azucena’s psychology, that allows the performer and director to create new interpretative concepts of the work. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the article is to determine the motivational basis for the formation of the image of Azucena, primarily the role of the motive of revenge, which becomes the driving force of the plot action, and to highlight the specifics of the reproduction of her image in the stage interpretations by Lauris Elmis and Violetta Urmana. The article uses several research methods: plot and dramaturgical analysis to determine the features of the libretto; a comparative method for finding out the differences between the director’s versions of the opera; performance and director’s analysis, which made it possible to determine the semantic accents and key points of interpretation of Azuchena’s image in the context of the concept of the opera. The article complements the study of the opera’s plot and its personages, further develops the study of the motivation for the behaviour of the key character of the work, Azuchena, by resorting to an in depth analysis of her image and variants of its interpretation, which is an innovative part of this research. Results and conclusion. The study shows that Azucena is the central image of G. Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore”, and her main motivation is revenge for the murder of her mother. The heroine hesitates (or pretends) between love for her mother (amor filiale) and maternal love for her son (amor materno), and also manipulates Manrico’s ‘amor filiale’ to implement her plan of revenge. It was found that in the two productions of the opera under consideration, Azucena’s image is not reinterpreted, since the motive of revenge remains its essential basis, but is enriched at the conceptual level: in the Australian version with Lauris Elmis, it is the contrast of statics and dynamics as a counterpart to the opposition “past – present”; in the French version with Violetta Urmana, there is an emphasis on the additional motive of Azucena’s revenge for the death in the fire of her real son (i.e., real maternal love, amor materno, against the pretended one). In addition, her behaviour after the last words is shown differently: in the first version it is obvious relaxation, in the second – uncontrolled movements in a state of triumphant joy, which in both cases eloquently indicates that the heroine’s goal has been achieved – revenge has taken place. Thus, the definition of “revenge drama” in relation to G. Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore” seems quite convincing.
Veronika Koval (Tue,) studied this question.