BaL 23.02.19 - Verdi: The Force of Destiny

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

09.30
Building a Library: Flora Willson listens to and compares recordings of Verdi’s opera La forza del destino.
La forza del destino, or The Force of Destiny, is an opera written and conceived on the grandest scale. An accidental death in the first scene ignites a drama of retribution in which the heroine, Leonora and her lover, Don Alvaro, are stalked by Leonora’s vengeful brother Don Carlo. This dark tale is offset by lively scenes of daily life in military encampments and monastic orders than in many ways anticipates the great epic tableaux of Russian opera.


Available versions:-

Walburga Wegner, David Poleri, Marko Rothmüller, Bruce Dargavel, Mildred Miller
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, Fritz Busch

Anja Harteros, Jonas Kaufmann, Ludovic Tézier, Nadia Krasteva, Vitalij Kowaljow, Renato Girolami, Bayerisches Staatsorchester & Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper, Asher Fisch (DVD/Blu-ray)

Martina Arroyo, Carlo Bergonzi, Piero Cappuccilli, Ruggero Raimondi, Royal Philharmonic, Lamberto Gardelli *

Ettore Bastianini, Antonietta Stella, Franco Corelli, Marco Stefanoni, Silvio Maionica, Agostino Ferrin, Antonio Zerbini, Virgilio Carbonari, Aurora Cattelani, Rinaldo Pelizzoni, Milan La Scala Chorus, Milan La Scala Orchestra, Gianandrea Gavazzeni*

Gabriele Bolletta, Zyian Atfeh, Dimitra Theodossiou, Adriana Di Paola, Aquiles Machado, Mariana Pentcheva, Vladimir Stoyanov, Alessandro Bianchini, Myung Ho Kim, Carlo Lepore, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Parma Teatro Regio Orchestra, Parma Teatro Regio Chorus, Gianluigi Gelmetti*

Dimitra Theodossiou, Vladimir Stoyanov, Aquiles Machado, Mariana Pentcheva, Roberto Scanduzzi, Carlo Lepore, Ziyan Afteh, Adriana di Paola, Hyung Ho Kim, Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma, Gianluigi Gelmetti (DVD/Blu-ray)

Galina Gorchakova, Nikolai Putilin, Gegam Grigorian, Marianna Tarasova, Grigory Karasev, Sergei Alexashkin, The Kirov Chorus and Orchestra, Valéry Gergiev (DVD)

Gennadi Bezzubenkov, Georgy Zastavny, Askar Abdrazakov, Lia Shevtzova, Gegam Grigorian, Galina Gorchakova, Olga Borodina, Mikhail Kit, Yuri Laptev, Nikolai Putilin, Nikolai Gassiev, Mariinsky (Kirov) Orchestra, Kirov Chorus, St Petersburg, Valéry Gergiev

Zinka Milanov, Mario del Monaco, Leonard Warren, New Orleans Opera Orchestra & Chorus, Walter Herbert

Susanna Branchini, Renzo Zulian, Marco Di Felice, Tiziana Carraro, Paolo Battaglia, Paolo Rumetz, Silvia Balistrieri, Orchestra Filarmonica Veneta ”G. F. Malipiero”, Lukas Karytinos (DVD)

Leontyne Price, Giuseppe Giacomini, Leo Nucci, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, James Levine (DVD)

Leontyne Price, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Fiorenza Cossotto, Bonaldo Giaiotti, Gabriel Bacquier, Michel Sénéchal, Kurt Moll, Malcolm King, William Elvin, London Symphony Orchestra, James Levine

Maria Caniglia, Tancredi Pasero, Carlo Tagliabue, RAI Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Turin, Gino Marinuzzi


Martina Arroyo (Leonora di Vargas), Peter Glossop (Don Carlo), Kenneth Collins (Don Alvaro), Don Garrard (Padre Guardiano), Janet Coster (Preziosilla), Derek Hammond-Stroud (Fra Melitone), Roderick Kennedy (Il Marchese di Calatrava), Philip O’Reilly (Un Alcalde), Kenneth Bowen (Maestro Trabuco), David Fieldsend, BBC Singers, BBC Concert Orchestra
John Matheson

Violeta Urmana, Carlo Guelfi, Marcello Giordani, Julia Gertseva, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Bruno De Simone, Antonella Trevisan, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Zubin Mehta (DVD)

Nina Stemme, Salvatore Licitra, Carlos Alvarez , Alastair Miles, Nadia Krasteva, Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, Chorus of the Vienna State Opera, Zubin Mehta (DVD/Blu-ray)

Ettore Bastianini, Franz Bierbach, Giulietta Simionato, Ludwig Welter, Antonietta Stella, Harald Proglhof, Hugo Meyer-Welfing, Anne-Marie Ludwig, Walter Kreppel, Giuseppe di Stefano, Karl Donch, Wiener Staatsoper, Dimitri Mitropoulos

Aldo Protti, Renato Capecchi, Giorgio Giorgetti, Cesare Siepi, Walter Finessi, Silvio Maionica, Renata Tebaldi, Angela Vercelli, Fedora Barbieri, Mario del Monaco, Piero de Palma oro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Dimitri Mitropoulos *

Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Ettore Bastianini, Giulietta Simionato, Cesare Siepi, Silvio Maionica, Gabriella Carturan & Piero di Palma
Orchestra e coro dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Roma, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli

Renata Tebaldi, Ettore Bastianini, Franco Corelli, Oralia Dominguez, Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro di San Carlo Napoli, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli (DVD)

Jorge Giorgio Algorta, Renata Tebaldi, Ettore Bastianini, Franco Corelli, Oralia Domínguez, Renato Capecchi, Anna Di Stasio, Boris Christoff, Mariano Caruso, Gianni Bardi, Giuseppe Forgione, Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli

Placido Domingo, Sesto Bruscantini, Francesca Garbi, Ernesto Gavazzi, Giorgio Zancanaro, Dolora Zajick, Giorgio Surian, Paul Plishka, Mirella Freni, Silvestro Sammaritano, Orchestra Del Teatro Alla Scala Di Milan, Coro Del Teatro Alla Scala Di Milano, Riccardo Muti

Carlo Bergonzi, Piero Cappuccilli, Ilva Ligabue, Agostino Ferrin, Franca Mattiucci
Orchestra Sinfonica e coro di Torino della RAI, Fernando Previtali

Victor De Narke, Martina Arroyo, Elsa Ventura, Plácido Domingo, Adriana Cantelli, Gian Piero Mastromei, Renato Cesari, Bonald Giaiotti, Tullio Gagliardo, Giuseppe Verdi, Orchestra & Chorus of Buenos Aires, Fernando Previtali*

Floriana Cavalli, Juan Zanin, Giuseppe Taddei, Richard Tucker, Oralia Domínguez, Giulio Viamonte, Carmen Burello, Plinio Clabassi, Virgilio Tavini, Guerrino Boschetti, José Crea, Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Colón, Fernando Previtali

Mario Verazzi, Gré Brouwenstijn, Aldo Protti, Richard Tucker, Mignon Dunn, Norman Scott, Orchestra & Chorus of the Teatro Colon, Fernando Previtali

Renata Tebaldi, Giuseppe di Stefano, Giulio Neri, Fedora Barbieri, Orchestra & Chorus of the Community Theatre of Florence, Gabriele Santini

Anita Cerquetti, Pier Miranda Ferraro, Giulietta Simionatto, Aldo Protti, Boris Christoff & Renato Capecchi, RAI Orchestra and Chorus, Rome, Nino Sanzogno

Renata Tebaldi, Mario Sereni, Richard Tucker, Mignon Dunn, Jerome Hines, Salvatore Baccaloni, Louis Sgarro, Carlotta Ordassy, Alessio di Paolis, Orchestra & Chorus of the Met, Thomas Schippers

Leontyne Price, Richard Tucker, Robert Merrill, Shirley Verrett, Giorgio Tozzi, Ezio Flagello, Corinna Vozza, Piero De Palma, Mario Rinaudo, Rolf Bottcher, RCA Italiana Opera Chorus & RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra, Thomas Schippers

Carla Martinis, Rudolf Schock, Josef Metternich, Gottlob Frick, Gustav Neidlinger, Martha Mödl
NDR Orchestra, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt*

Maria Callas, Rina Cavallari, Gino del Signore, Elena Nicolai, Renato Capecchi, Plinio Clabassi, Carlo Tagliabue, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, Dario Caselli, Teatro alla Scala, Coro del Teatro alla Scala di Milano,Tullio Serafin

Rosalind Plowright, Agnes Baltsa, José Carreras, Renato Bruson, Paata Burchuladze, Juan Pons, John Tomlinson
Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli*

Luben Vichey, Zinka Milanov, Leonard Warren, Richard Tucker, Mildred Miller, Gerhard Pechner, Laura Castellano, Jerome Hines, Algerd Brazis, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus, Fritz Stiedry

Leonard Warren, Rosalind Elias, Fernando Corena, George Cehanovsky, Alessio De Paolis, Louis Sgarro, Zinka Milanov, Cesare Siepi,, Thelma Votipka, Richard Tucker, Metropolitan Opera Chorus, Metropolitan Opera, Fritz Stiedry

Zinka Milanov, Gino Penno, Leonard Warren, Jerome Hines, Jean Madeira, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus, Fritz Stiedry

Leyla Gencer, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Aldo Protti, Franco Calabrese, Stefania Malagù, Gabriella Carturan, Alfredo Giacomotti, Enrico Campi, Cesare Siepi, Angelo Mercuriali, Gabriella Cartutan
Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Antonino Votto *

Salvatore Baccaloni; Frederick Jagel; Irra Petina; Ezio Pinza; Stella Roman; Lawrence Tibbett
New York Metropolitan Opera Chorus; New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Bruno Walter


* = download only

[Richard Tarleton]

This was the work Roger Parker reviewed for his first BAL in 1997 - I'm not sure which he chose. So I suppose they can't ask him to do it again, although he has been their go-to Verdi guy.

Are they doing this again in view of the upcoming ROH production with Netrebko and Kaufmann, for which tickets are being resold for around £4k? There must be other Verdi operas they haven't done at all. But lots of new versions since then I'm sure.

Ony room for one recording at T. Towers (Price, Domingo etc., LSO/Levine) but we did see the Kirov's Forza when they brought it to London in 2001 (as part of their ill-advised Verdi season at the ROH) which was an exact replica of the original St Petersburg production, which was interesting (Hugh Canning remarked in the ST that we could do with a break from the Kirov after that season). They went with the original 1862 ending in which Alvaro hurls himself into a chasm (we hoped there were plenty of mattresses ready to receive the well-built tenor).

Someone - it may have been Roger Parker - remarked that the opera ought to be titled "The Power of Coincidence". But it does have some cracking music, the theme tune being borrowed for Jean de Florette. But, it has to be said, it does go on a bit.

[BBMmk2]

I’d love to hear this one!

[Barbirollians]

I’d love to hear this one!

Callas/Serafin for me .

[Stanfordian]

I attended my first 'La forza del destino' at Semperoper, Dresden last May. A long epic opera but a most exciting and rewarding production by Keith Warner. It was Mark Wigglesworth conducting the Staatskapelle Dresden.

Marchese di Calatrava / Il Padre Guardiano – Stephen Milling
Donna Leonora – Emily Magee
Don Carlo di Vargas – Alexey Markov
Don Alvaro – Marcelo Puente
Preziosilla / Curra – Christina Bock

[Pulcinella]

Another wretched twofer: can't bear them!

[underthecountertenor]

Another wretched twofer: can't bear them!

They’re talking over each other so much, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was Question Time.

[Pulcinella]

They’re talking over each other so much, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was Question Time.

Given comments on scripting on another thread, I wonder how much of the 'interchanges' are scripted; presumably it would be extremely bad form for Andrew to throw a googly into the Question Time mix!

[underthecountertenor]

Given comments on scripting on another thread, I wonder how much of the 'interchanges' are scripted; presumably it would be extremely bad form for Andrew to throw a googly into the Question Time mix!

I have heard him do that once or twice in the past though.

But for my interest in the opera, this would be a turn-off for me.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Another wretched twofer: can't bear them!

They’re talking over each other so much, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was Question Time.

I showed willing - I'd been thinking I wouldn't listen at all, because I probably have all the recordings of the work I'll ever want, but then tuned in, on the offchance that I might hear something to awaken some greater enthusiasm for the work ... and instead I heard this "who can gush the longest, loudest, and fastest" competition. I didn't last five minutes!

I'll see Pulcie's and raise him a

[Goon525]

I’m surprised the reaction to the format are quite so strongly negative: there’s lots of good and valid info and criticism taking place, and they both clearly know what they’re talking about.

[Pulcinella]

I’m surprised the reaction to the format are quite so strongly negative: there’s lots of good and valid info and criticism taking place, and they both clearly know what they’re talking about.

It's such a contrived format though, don't you feel?
As though we, the listeners that the programme is presumably aimed at, are somehow privileged to be able to earwig their erudite conversational exchanges?

[Goon525]

It's such a contrived format though, don't you feel?
As though we, the listeners that the programme is presumably aimed at, are somehow privileged to be able to earwig their erudite conversational exchanges?

Personally I don’t mind it as an occasional variant to the standard format. I don’t know if it’s fully scripted, but it’s working ok for me.

[underthecountertenor]

I’m surprised the reaction to the format are quite so strongly negative: there’s lots of good and valid info and criticism taking place, and they both clearly know what they’re talking about.

Flora is excellent. I just don’t see the point of having Andrew there interrupting her, only to agree.

[Cockney Sparrow]

As to talking over each other, its settled down. I'm enjoying the content, and not resenting the form.

Under the current need to imprint our feeble minds, its necessary for Andrew McG to make his presence evident on "his" show....

I don't think its his fault. Its surely a dictat over all radio?

IIRC, Gillian Reynolds, radio critic, said the principal need for the new appointment as R4 controller is to fit in with the "vision" of James Purnell. That will be served up to the great man by the controller of BBC Music (or whatever title is given to that all encompassing role) and the job of R3 controller is to execute it. "Interpretations on record" and sepulchral studious solo analysis are a thing of the past.... The way its gone, we're lucky that BAL survives at all on Saturday morning.