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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

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Opera on 3

Music: Classical: Opera

Programme presenting rare and fascinating operatic performances

Programme presenting rare and fascinating performances and vividly communicating the immediacy of the live experience

Opera on 3: Verdi's La forza del destino

Verdi's La forza del destino

BBC Radio 3 - Opera on 3, Verdi's La forza del destino

Verdi's La forza del destino at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Antonio Pappano conducts Verdi's La forza del destino at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Antonio Pappano conducts La forza del destino at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The star-studded cast includes Anna Netrebko as Leonora, Jonas Kaufman as Don Alvaro, and Ludovic Tézier as Don Carlo di Vargas. 

Verdi and his librettist and friend Francesco Maria Piave based La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny) on Ángel de Saavedra's highly dramatic play Don Alvaro, o la fuerza del sino. The story tells how the intended elopement of Leonora and Don Alvaro goes wrong when Alvaro accidentally kills Leonora's father. Both lovers escape, but only to lead separate lives as wanderers, with the father's dying curse ringing in their ears and Leonora's brother in vengeful pursuit. When the three are finally reunited, the conclusion can only be a dramatic one.

Verdi's brilliant score covers a wide range of settings and emotions, from tense confrontations to rowdy song-and-scenes in a tavern and an army camp. It also boasts some of the composer's very best tunes.

Martin Handley presents and during the interval chats to Flora Willson.

Leonora.....Anna Netrebko (soprano)
Don Alvaro.....Jonas Kaufmann (tenor)
Don Carlo di Vargas.....Ludovic Tézier (baritone)
Padre Guardiano.....Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass)
Fra Melitone.....Alessandro Corbelli (tenor)
Preziosilla.....Veronica Simeoni (soprano)
Marquis of Calatrava.....Robert Lloyd (bass)
Curra.....Roberta Alexander (soprano)
Alcalde.....Michael Mofidian (bass-baritone)
Maestro Trabuco.....Carlo Bosi (tenor)

Antonio Pappano conducts the Royal Opera Orchestra and Chorus 

For a full synopsis visit the programme page.

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