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Afternoon Concert: Thursday Opera Matinee: Thursday Opera Matinee - Verdi 200: La Forza del Destino

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Music: Classical: Opera

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12/12/2013

Thursday Opera Matinee - Verdi 200: La Forza del Destino

BBC Radio 3 - Afternoon Concert

Penny Gore presents the seldom heard original version of Verdi's La Forza del Destino.

Penny Gore presents Valery Gergiev's 1995 account of the seldom heard original version of Verdi's La Forza del Destino.

Verdi 200: La Forza del Destino (1862 original St Petersburg version)

The Marquis of Calatrava says goodnight to his daughter, Leonora, unaware that she plans that very night to elope with Alvaro, the sole survivor of a noble family condemned to extermination for supporting the Incas in the face of Spanish colonial rule. Alvaro appears on the balcony to flee with Leonora but is interrupted by the Marquis. Alvaro gives himself up and throws his pistol on the floor but it goes off killing the Marquis. Alvaro and Leonora flee and are on the run for nearly a decade before fate finally catches up with them.
This first version of Verdi's drama with its romantically gloomy denouement was a huge success in St Petersburg but Verdi had his doubts, writing to Piave his librettist that they must 'think of a way of avoiding so many deaths.'
Penny Gore presents Valery Gergiev's 1995 account of this seldom heard original version.

The Marquis of Calatrava ..... Askar Abdrazakov (bass),
Leonora, his daugter ..... Galina Gorchakova (soprano),
Don Carlo di Vargas, his son ..... Nikolai Putilin (baritone),
Don Alvaro, Leonora's suitor ..... Gegam Grigorian (tenor),
Curra, Leonora's maid ..... Lia Shevtzova (mezzo-soprano),
Preziosilla a young gypsy girl ..... Olga Borodina (mezzo-soprano),
Padre Guardiano, Fransiscan Father Superior ..... Mikhail Kit (bass),
Fra Melitone, Franciscan ..... Georgy Zastavny (bass),
Alcade, mayor ..... Gennady Bezzubenkov (bass),
Maestro Trabuco, muleteer and peddler ..... Nikolai Gasiev (tenor),
Surgeon ..... Yuri Laptev (bass),
Orchestra and Chorus of the Kirov Theatre, St Petersburg
Valery Gergiev (conductor).

Afternoon Concert: Thursday Opera Matinee

Thursday Opera Matinee

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