As the curtain rises, haunting, painful, and fiery recollections of a tragic past swirl around the tortured gypsy, Azucena. Verdi's immortal tale of love, jealousy, treachery and sacrifice contains favorite after favorite, including the Anvil Chorus, "Stride la vampa", "Di quella pira", and the Miserere. The stellar cast is lead by the stunning Met star Zvetilina Vassileva as Leonora and international superstar Irina Mishura as Azucena. Opera Pacific favorite Hugh Smith returns as the heroic Manrico, son of the tortured gypsy. Maestro DeMain conducts this lavish new production created by Dejan Miladinovic that is sure to close the 2002/2003 season with unrelenting drama.