Giuseppe Verdi's Troubadour is one of the most popular operas ever. However, not many people know the French version—Le Trouvère—that Verdi prepared for Parisian audiences in the tradition of the "Grand Opéra." Although it was a big success in 1856/57, the French version, which includes a large ballet in Act III and a French libretto, is nowadays seldom performed. Robert Wilson directs Le Trouvère at the historic Teatro Farnese in Parma, under the baton of Maestro Roberto Abbado, collaborating with American photographer Robert Rosenkranz, whose photographs create a counterpoint to the opera's action. In 2019, the production will be presented at the co-producing Teatro Comunale di Bologna in its original Italian version, Il trovatore.