Verdi wrote La forza
del destino after a two-year gap
from composition following the premiere
of Un Ballo in Maschera on 17
February 1950. During that period he
had been active in national politics
following the unification of Italy.
He was tiring of that scene when approached
for a new opera from the Imperial Italian
Theatre in St. Petersburg. With Verdi
busy away as a Deputy at the parliament,
Giuseppina managed the correspondence
and persuaded Verdi that with suitable
provisions the cold in Russia would
be manageable and he should accept the
lucrative commission. The first suggestion
of subject, Victor Hugo’s dramatic poem
Ruy Blas with its romantic liaisons
across the social divide, met censorship
problems. After some struggle for another
subject Verdi settled on the Spanish
drama ‘Don Alvaro, o La fuerza de sino’
by Angel Perez de Saavedra, Duke of
Rivas. This was deemed as suitable in
Russia and Verdi asked his long time
collaborator Piave to provide the libretto.
Verdi worked throughout the summer of
1860 as Giuseppina made the domestic
arrangements for the shipment of Bordeaux
wine, Champagne, rice, macaroni cheese
and salami for themselves and two servants.
The Verdis arrived in St. Petersburg
in November 1861, but during rehearsals
the principal soprano became ill. As
there was no possible substitute the
premiere was postponed until the following
autumn and after some sightseeing the
Verdis returned home. At its delayed
premiere the work was well received
with the Czar attending a performance.
Opera Rara issued a recording of the
original version Review
Verdi, ever his own
sternest critic, was not wholly satisfied
with his creation, and after its Rome
premiere in April 1863 he withdrew it
for revision. The present recording
is of the revised 1869 version. Not
unusually, and to accommodate theatre
intervals, the work was given at the
Met in three acts. All the music of
the revision is present but act two
is designated as scene two and three
of act one. There is, however, a significant
difference from the standard revised
version, which is used in audio recordings,
particularly the 1969 EMI with Bergonzi
and Martina Arroyo and 1976 RCA with
Domingo and Leontyne Price. This concerns
the scene between Alvaro and Don Carlo
when the latter reveals that he knows
the other’s identity and challenges
him to a duel (DVD2 Chs. 40-41). In
this performance the act sequence of
the original 1862 version is followed
with this confrontation ending the act
rather than Preziosilla’s Rataplan.
Verdi also wrote an extended overture,
often played as a concert piece, and
which replaces the original prelude.
This evening at the
Met was always going to be special as
it was the last performance given of
the role of Leonora at the Met by the
great Verdi spinto Leontyne Price. Perhaps
the greatest Verdi singer of her generation
she had dominated performances of the
role at the Met since she first sang
it there in the 1967-68 season with
Corelli as Alvaro. She had to overcome
racial prejudices to become one of the
most loved singers in the company’s
roster. She had opened the new Metropolitan
Theatre in 1966, creating the role of
Cleopatra in Barber’s Antony and
Cleopatra. Price recorded the role
of the Forza Leonora twice. In
the first recording (1964) with the
rather lachrymose Richard Tucker as
Alvaro, she is in marvellous pristine
voice, her phrases gleaming as they
float over the orchestra. The young
Domingo is her beau in the second (1976)
recording on the RCA issue referred
to. In the second recording her tone
is not so gleaming, rather more smoky,
but she phrases with so much involvement
and portrays Leonora’s agonies with
such consummate perfection that any
slight vocal deterioration since the
1964 recording is easily overlooked
and forgiven. By the time of this 1984
Met performance Price’s vocal resources
were more limited, but experience and
artistry enable the listener to put
limitations aside. Her phrasing, vocal
colouring and soaring cantilena is perfect
Verdi. In Leonora’s opening romanza
Me pellegrina ed orfano (DVD1
Ch. 4) the tone is a little thin but
by the time she has to let the phrases
soar in the Inn Scene (DVD1 Ch 11) she
is back on form albeit husbanding her
resources. Never the greatest actress,
one is aware of the care Price is taking
in her singing and this is reflected
in the rather limited histrionics of
this performance. The virtue of this
approach is evident in her floated phrases
in La Vergine degli Angeli (DVD1
Ch. 22) and a committed and well phrased
Pace, pace, mio Dio (DVD2 Ch.
7) in the final scene. Needless to say,
at curtain call the pent up emotion
in the house results in tumultuous applause
and a shower of flowers. I am glad to
have her performance on video. Singers
of her greatness do not come that often
even if we do wish they had been caught
in their vocal prime.
The rest of the cast
are adequate but not outstanding in
their roles. Giuseppe Giacomini is not
often heard on audio recordings but
is often seen on DVDs of staged performances
where his upright acting and straightforward
virile singing are complementary. He
doesn’t do tonal modulation or gentle
phrasing. The viewer can grateful that
he does what he does do well, and he
portrays a distinctive Alvaro. Leo Nucci’s
lean baritone cannot infuse Don Carlo
with the full range of the roles anger
and frustration, or the necessary vehemence
in his insults to Alvaro (DVD1 Chs.
40-41 and DVD2 Chs. 5-6). Bonaldo Giaiotti
as Padre Guardiano is imposing of stature
but rather placid in demeanour and vocal
enunciation. His tone has dried out
somewhat in the years since he sang
the role on Price’s second audio recording.
Raw vocal patches are also present in
the Fra Melitone of Enrico Fissore who
really hams up the role with rather
too much eye rolling. Better is the
Preziosilla of Isolo Jones. Her vivandier
looks and sounds sexy. Whatever else
she promises the recruits, her Rataplan
would have stirred their blood (DVD1
Ch. 39). James Levine is less frenetic
than on the 1976 recording and invests
Verdi’s sublime music with a real feel
for the cantilena, something that in
his often over-dramatic urgency he has
not always done on record.
The sets for this production
date back to 1952. They and the costumes
are in period and there are no quirky
producer’s tricks along the way. The
downside is that there is not a lot
of production, The singers are left
to their own devices. A little more
direction would not have come amiss
and might have given greater dramatic
cohesion to Verdi’s massive schematic
canvas. With its story of unrequited
love, racial prejudice and violent deaths,
some contend La Forza del Destino
is the composer’s darkest opera.
Darkness often pervades the stage, a
situation overcome by the video director’s
frequent and appropriate use of close-ups
and short mid-shots.
I do not doubt that
better acted Forzas will emerge
on the medium including that from La
Scala with Mirella Freni. But neither
she, nor any other singer I know currently
performing the role of Leonora, has
Leontyne Price’s lineage in this repertoire.
Who could begin to challenge the quality
of her singing even at this late stage
of her career? For the occasion, and
the tribute to one of the greatest Verdi
singers of our time, this performance
is recommended.
Robert J Farr
Metropolitan Opera Chorus 
DEUTSCHE
GRAMMOPHON 000440 073 4076 GH [2 DVDs: 180:00]
