Where can I find a copy of the play based on Verdi's "Il trovatore?"?

Question

Do you think the original drama would be in publication or would I actually have to see the opera itself to find out?

Answer 1

The original play upon which Verdi and his librettist, Salvatore Cammarrano, wrote the opera Il Trovatore, was

El Trovador, by Antonio Garcia Gutierrez (1812--1884).

There is at least one edition published in the US: El Trovador (Heath's Modern Language Series) by Vaughan, De Vitis, and Antonio Garcia Gutierrez (Hardcover - 1930)

Here is some information about the original play:

The source for Il trovatore is the Spanish play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutierrez, a great admirer and literary follower of Victor Hugo. Gutierrez wrote the play in 1836, and on the heels of negative reaction to first readings of the work he decided to enlist in the army. But during the time that he was away the actor Antonio Guzmán read it and committed himself to producing the work at a public theatre. Once it was seen on stage it was appreciated as a great play and compared to the works of Calderón and even Shakespeare. Like many 19th century Romantic dramas, the play is a sprawling melodrama that demands that the audience understand and appreciate rich historical detail. In an interesting biographical note, the playwright had to go AWOL from the army in order to see Guzmán’s production of El Trovador. He was greatly embarrassed to be called to the stage after the successful performance, dressed in his army uniform and being in a place where he shouldn’t have been! (Gutierrez is also the source for Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra.)

El Trovador is a play only a Spaniard could have written. It is filled with strange and bizarre occurrences, not least of which is the story of the gypsy Azucena who, 20 years prior to the curtain going up, threw her own son into a bonfire thinking that it was the son of the villain Count di Luna. Manrique (Manrico in the opera), Eleonora (Leonora in the opera) and the Count are rather stock characters, a standard hero, heroine and antagonist. But their situations and actions set them apart from standard characters: Manrique and the Count are brothers unknown to each other, Azucena plays them against each other for revenge for her baby’s (and her mother’s) death, and Eleonora, a noble woman of high moral standards, loves Manrique so much that as the drama develops she becomes more and more immersed in a life of sin. After she takes the veil in a convent she renounces her religious vows, follows her lover, and in the end commits suicide by poison.

Verdi’s librettist for Il trovatore was Salvatore Cammarano, who had also written the libretti for Alzira, La battaglia di Legnano and Luisa Miller for the composer, as well as Lucia di Lammermoor for Donizetti. It was this librettist’s chore to take the original Spanish play and make it conform to operatic structure.

Answer 2

I don't know but that is an excellent play with great music. I am sorry that I am of no help but I do love that play--especially the Gypsy's chorus.