her filial call to Manrico also reveals to him that she is his mother.
He makes a desperate effort to rescue her, but is defeated, taken
prisoner, and thrown into a dungeon with Azucena. Leonora vainly
appeals to the Count to spare Manrico, and at last offers him her hand
if he will save his life. He consents, and Leonora hastens to the
prison to convey the tidings, having previously taken poison,
preferring to die rather than fulfil her hateful compact. Manrico
refuses his liberty, and as Leonora falls in a dying condition the
Count enters and orders Manrico to be put to death at once. He is
dragged away to execution, but as the Count triumphantly forces
Azucena to a window and shows her the tragic scene, she reveals her
secret, and informing the horror-stricken Count that he has murdered
his own brother, falls lifeless to the ground.

The first act opens with a ballad in mazurka time ("Abbietta
Zingara"), in which Ferrando relates the story of the gypsy, leading
up to a scena for Leonora, which is treated in Verdi's favorite style.
It begins with an andante ("Tacea la notte placida"), a brief dialogue
with her attendant Inez intervening, and then develops into an allegro
("Di tale amor") which is a brilliant bit of bravura. A brief snatch
of fascinating melody behind the scenes ("Deserto sulla terra")
introduces Manrico, and the act closes with a trio ("Di geloso amor
sprezzato"), which as an expression of combined grief, fear, and hate,
is one of the most dramatic and intense of all Verdi's finales.

The second act opens with the Anvil chorus in the camp of the gypsies
("La Zingarella"), the measures accented with hammers upon the anvils.
This number is so familiar that it does not need further reference. As
its strains die away in the distance, Azucena breaks out into an aria
of intense energy, with very expressive accompaniment ("Stride le