Azucena had to witness her mother being burned as a witch. In revenge, she kidnapped the younger of the two sons of the old Count di Luna, who ordered her mother’s burning, but in her delirium she threw her own son onto the flames instead of the Count’s son. Years later, the new Count di Luna, the brother of the kidnapped child, and the »Troubadour« Manrico, the supposed son of Azucena, not only fight on opposing sides in a civil war, but also encounter each other because they both love the lady-in-waiting Leonora. Nobody suspects that Manrico is actually Luna’s kidnapped brother – until Leonora sacrifices herself for her beloved and the hate-filled Luna kills his rival.