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"More and more I'm finding the real Italian in me," said British-born, American-trained Antonio Pappano shortly after making this recording of Il trovatore. With its complex plot, volcanic emotions and outpourings of melody, Verdi's fiery drama is often judged the quintessential Italian opera. Pappano conducts a cast that can rise to its thrilling challenges, with Roberto Alagna in the title role of Manrico, the troubadour, Thomas Hampson as his antagonist, Angela Gheorghiu as the object of both their affections and Larissa Diadkova as the opera's pivotal figure, Azucena, a woman haunted by the past