The old man is furious and has Luisa and Miller arrested. When the count informs his son about the plans he had made, Rodolfo rejects them and reveals his love for Luisa. Rodolfo has known her since childhood but has no romantic feelings for her. Meanwhile, back at the castle, Count Walter has arranged for his son to marry a widowed duchess, Federica.

His suspicions are confirmed when the villainous Wurm, the count’s retainer who wants the girl for himself, blows the whistle on the masquerader. Luisa’s father, Miller, has doubts about the suitor. The young man is actually Rodolfo, the son of the local count named Walter. (This is a common device in operas, such as Verdi’s “Rigoletto” and Gioachino Rossini’s “Barber of Seville.” As in the TV series “The Americans,” it seems strange that no one around town sees through the disguise.) Luisa is being romanced by a young man she thinks is a commoner. The opera takes place in the Tyrolean Alps. This production by Elijah Moshinsky has not been presented at the Met since 2006.

The composer and his librettist Salvadore Cammarano dropped much of the intrigue and concentrated on the story of doomed love.Īlthough the opera, Verdi’s 15th, is engrossing from start to finish, with solo arias, duets including wrenching ones between a father and daughter, trios, and quartets, it is not performed very often. The opera, which premiered in 1849, is adapted from Friedrich von Schiller’s play “Kabale und Liebe” (“Intrigue and Love”). NEW YORK- Giuseppe Verdi’s “Luisa Miller” is being revived with a starry cast, with Plácido Domingo as Miller, Sonya Yoncheva as the title character, and Piotr Beczala as her lover Rodolfo.

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