Verdi's grand tale of ill-fated love, deadly vendetta, and family strife.Verdi's grand tale of ill-fated love, deadly vendetta, and family strife.Verdi's grand tale of ill-fated love, deadly vendetta, and family strife.
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A Brilliant La Forza
There's no dancing around it: La Forza never makes it to the top of anyone's list of favorite Verdi operas for good reason. The story is silly, and takes far too long to play out, due in part to padding with pageantry on more than one occasion. And yet...anyone who perseveres is rewarded by some of the most beautiful music in the operatic repertoire, which is to say some of the most beautiful music period. The pilgrims' chorus in the second scene of Act I, the swelling accompaniment to Leonora's reception into the monastery later in the act, and Leonora's final solo aria immediately come to mind. In fact, if there ever were an opera tailor-made for the selective playback capabilities of a DVD, it's this one. (I would say the same about most Wagner operas, but don't get me started.)
The lynch-pin holding together the three musical diamonds in the rough I've already mentioned is the voice of Leonora, and with Renata Tebaldi, the role could not be in better hands. Her approach will forever be associated with craft and finesse, qualities in abundance in this performance. Tebaldi's artificial gestures and posturing may at first seem jarring to a modern audience, but before long, there is no question that the listener is in the presence of genius. In this recording she was at the height of her power, and for my money, only Leontyne Price can match (exceed?) her artistry in the heartrending 'Pace Pace Mio Dio'.
Tebaldi is here well-matched vocally and stylistically by the legendary Franco Corelli. Eschewing the excesses of a "bad boy" interpretation, he crafts a dignified and aristocratic Don Alvaro, a character clearly proud of his exotic heritage, and unbroken by the vicissitudes of fate. Corelli's clear, bright tonality is at its best when paired with the dark intensity and undercurrent of menace in Ettore Bastianini's take on Don Carlo di Vargas, particularly in the sickbed scene and their final confrontation.
The production is quaint by modern standards, with backdrops painted on tapestries that billow faintly from time to time. The video can be grainy and streaky, but there are no noticeable skips or static in the soundtrack.
The lynch-pin holding together the three musical diamonds in the rough I've already mentioned is the voice of Leonora, and with Renata Tebaldi, the role could not be in better hands. Her approach will forever be associated with craft and finesse, qualities in abundance in this performance. Tebaldi's artificial gestures and posturing may at first seem jarring to a modern audience, but before long, there is no question that the listener is in the presence of genius. In this recording she was at the height of her power, and for my money, only Leontyne Price can match (exceed?) her artistry in the heartrending 'Pace Pace Mio Dio'.
Tebaldi is here well-matched vocally and stylistically by the legendary Franco Corelli. Eschewing the excesses of a "bad boy" interpretation, he crafts a dignified and aristocratic Don Alvaro, a character clearly proud of his exotic heritage, and unbroken by the vicissitudes of fate. Corelli's clear, bright tonality is at its best when paired with the dark intensity and undercurrent of menace in Ettore Bastianini's take on Don Carlo di Vargas, particularly in the sickbed scene and their final confrontation.
The production is quaint by modern standards, with backdrops painted on tapestries that billow faintly from time to time. The video can be grainy and streaky, but there are no noticeable skips or static in the soundtrack.
helpful•10
- mandycp
- Sep 24, 2019
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