Boheme Opera NJ turned to a story of love, hate, and revenge for this year’s presentation of Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore this past weekend at Kendall Main Stage Theater at The College of New Jersey. With a libretto by Italian playwright Salvatore Cammarano, who based his texts on a play by Spanish dramatist Antonio García Gutiérrez (which in turn was allegedly inspired by real events), Verdi’s 1853 opera was popular from the outset, despite its dark narrative but no doubt aided by the inclusion of traditional Italian tunes audiences would have known.

Boheme Opera NJ’s productions on Friday night and Sunday afternoon, presented in Italian with English supertitles, featured a cast of seasoned opera performers, including singers heard in previous Boheme Opera presentations. Artistic director and conductor Joseph Pucciatti brought the story into modern times by focusing on the more sinister aspects of the plot while never losing sight of the luxurious music.