On Oct. 8, the Toledo Opera will open its 2021-22 season with Verdi’s “Il Trovatore.”

The production will mark the Ohio company’s return to the Valentine Theater after nearly two years due to the pandemic.

The performance will star Leah Crocetto as Leonora, Carl Tanner as Manrico, mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel as Azucena, and baritone Kyle Pfortmiller as Count di Luna.

Adam Turner will conduct the production by Jeffrey Buchman with Allen Michael Jones (Ferrando), soprano and Toledo Opera Resident Artist Grace Wipfli (Ines), tenor Brian Skoog (Ruiz), and baritone-bass Michael Colman (Bohemian) rounding out the cast.

In a statement, Toledo Opera Executive Director Suzanne Rorick said, “Great opera transports us to a world beyond the everyday — by bringing us together, it takes us on a shared journey outside ourselves. That kind of shared experience is something that’s been sorely missing from all of our lives for the past two years, and we want our audiences’ first time back in the Valentine Theater to be as meaningful for them as it is for us.”

“Il Trovatore” will also be performed on Oct. 10, 2021.