Stepping into Manrico: Rosario La Spina on IL TROVATORE
A story of love, jealousy, revenge and family secrets, Giuseppe Verdi’s Il trovatore is one of opera’s great tales of passion and tragedy. First performed in 1853, the opera follows the troubadour Manrico, a rebel soldier who falls in love with Leonora, a noblewoman also pursued by the jealous Count di Luna. As the two men battle for Leonora, a long-buried family secret is revealed: Manrico and the Count are, unknowingly, brothers. Meanwhile, Manrico’s relationship with Azucena, the woman who raised him, is complicated by her traumatic past and desire for revenge.
Known for its soaring melodies, powerful ensembles and demanding vocal roles, Il trovatore is quintessential Verdi, bringing together romance, political conflict and a cycle of revenge that ultimately ends in tragedy. At its centre is Manrico, a role demanding both vocal power and emotional intensity.
Taking on the role for Opera Australia is Australian tenor Rosario La Spina, widely recognised for his powerful voice and affinity with the great Italian spinto and verismo repertoire. A regular artist with Opera Australia, La Spina made his debut with the company as Cavaradossi in Tosca and has since performed many of its most demanding tenor roles, including Radames in Aida, Alfredo in La traviata, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, The Duke in Rigoletto, Rodolfo in La bohème, Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana, Calaf in Turandot and Macduff in Macbeth. Most recently, he made his role debut as Siegmund in a new production of Die Walküre.
Beyond Opera Australia, La Spina has performed extensively with major companies across Australia, including State Opera South Australia, West Australian Opera, Opera Queensland, Victorian Opera and Melbourne Opera. His Australian credits include Manrico in Il trovatore, Canio in Pagliacci, Don Alvaro in La forza del destino, Erik in Der fliegende Holländer and Samson in Samson et Dalila. His international career has taken him across North America, Asia and Europe. He won first prize in the Mario Del Monaco International Opera Competition and made his La Scala debut as Riccardo in Verdi’s Oberto, later reprising the role in Genoa. He has also performed Manrico and Calaf in Serbia, Radames with Seattle Opera, and major tenor roles throughout Japan, Taiwan and New Zealand.
La Spina has performed with all of Australia’s major state orchestras and appears on several recordings, including Classical Spectacular with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Puccini Romance with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. His 2010 album Always You, recorded with his sister Anna-Maria La Spina, topped the classical charts in Australia. In 2026, La Spina returns to Opera Australia to reprise his celebrated portrayal of Calaf in a new production of Turandot, while also performing The Prince in Rusalka in Brisbane and Manrico in Il Trovatore in Melbourne.
Manrico is a huge sing and a huge dramatic role in one. How do you balance the two?
Rosario: The way I balance the role is to not get overwhelmed and that is by taking one page at a time and having a clear picture in my head of what is happening at that exact moment, and not to think about what’s coming up because that will take care of itself as long as I’m clear in my head.
You’ve played big, tragic tenor roles before. What draws you to characters like this?
Rosario: This role really attracts me because of the lyricism that is involved because he’s a true romantic, but also has a very tormented side to him caused by the pressure that his mother has been putting on him. This is actually one of my favourite characters to portray.
Il Trovatore is a pretty brutal, twisted story. What makes it so dark to you — the plot itself, or what it does to the characters?
Rosario: The plot of this opera definitely makes it one of the most brutal and darkest stories of all the repertoire, in my case there are incredible mind games being played on me by the large shadow of my mother (Azucena) which hangs over me throughout the whole piece.
Manrico’s relationship with Azucena, who raised him, is strange and intense. How are you building that with your castmate?
Rosario: As you can see from my other answers I’ve spoken quite a bit about the relationship with my mother in this opera. I’m very fortunate to have such a fantastic colleague like Sarah Sweeting because not only does she sing it with incredible intensity but in these last few weeks we’ve been able to build a very strong, intense chemistry.
“Di Quella Pira” is one of the toughest, most famous moments for a tenor in all of opera. Do you love singing it, or does it terrify you a bit?
Rosario: Singing “Di Quella Pira” doesn’t terrify me but I do feel a heavy responsibility to deliver it with the right intensity and drive that a composer like Verdi asks of the tenors that sing it, it’s actually a privilege to be given the opportunity to seeing it.
This opera is nearly 200 years old but still hits hard. What is it about Verdi’s music that keeps it alive for you?
Rosario: I think it’s pretty difficult to not be excited by anything the great Giuseppe Verdi wrote, there’s not a page in this opera that you would not want to hear, it’s the incredible ability that Verdi has to keep the music and drama so incredibly aligned with each other that you cannot not be excited by hearing a masterpiece like Il Trovatore.
Il Trovatore is playing now at Melbourne’s Atheneum Theatre.
For tickets and more information, please visit the Melbourne Opera website.
