Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra :: Verdi: La Forza del Destino

Power, Drama, Beauty! My No1 Forza Del Destino!

Armindo | Greece | 01/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After the legendary Florence Festival Forza performances (1953) under the baton of the neglected giant Dimitri Mitropoulos, people at Decca knew they had the perfect artists to create a masterful Forza Del Destino. This set gives us an idea of the kind of voices one could hear in the '50s: Tebaldi, Del Monaco, Bastianini, Simionato, Siepi, Corena. Everyone was at her/his peak in 1955 when this set was recorded. Notice also that they are all Italians and this certainly is a plus when it comes to vibrato and Italian accent. There are not enough superlatives to compliment Renata Tebaldi's Leonora di Vargas. Even her opponents agree that this was one of her greatest roles in which she was unrivalled. The sheer power and clarity of her singing teaches us how opera is supposed to sound! Verdi (and all opera composers) has injected the drama in the music but you need an opera singer of this calibre to sing the drama. Just listen to "Son giunta!", "Pace, Pace" or any other Tebaldi moment!Del Monaco is heard here in one of his famous roles. He rarely sings piano on this set but his fierce sound is welcome in this heavy tenor role. He lacks Bergonzi's style but on the other hand, Bergonzi doesn't have Del Monaco's ringing voice. Giulietta Simionato once again proves that she was an excellent Verdi mezzo. As for Bastianini, Siepi and Corena they are everything one could ask for. NO OTHER Forza Del Destino recording has such an ideal group of performers!Mollinari-Pradelli was not the best conductor of his time but I find his conducting very pleasant; he doesn't try to overpower his singers and allows them to shine. A Serafin or a Mitropoulos would have been ideal but still the result is excellent. And what a great surprise that this '55 set has STEREO sound! The only other studio Forza Del Destino I warmly recommend is the EMI Gardelli set with Bergonzi, Arroyo, Capuccilli and Raimondi: a less powerful performance with great singing (if not as enchanting as the one heard here). If you are looking for Verdi perfection go for the '53 live Florence Festival Forza Del Destino (Tebaldi, Del Monaco, Barbieri, Protti - Mitropoulos) or get the 1958 DVD Forza with Tebaldi and Corelli."

Magnificent and authentic Forza

Marc Musnick | 01/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This magnificent set which comprises of four Italian principles is the best recorded FORZA available. Although the competition is pretty stiff when this opera was not difficult to cast, I always come back to this recording. And if you love Tebaldi, this recording is a must have."

Top notch, Golden-Age cast in ideal Verdi performance; one o

Niel Rishoi | Ann Arbor, MI USA | 03/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If I had to name a favorite Verdi opera, it would have to

be his La forza del destino. This opera moves me like no

other among his works. I realize that some others -

Falstaff, Don Carlo, Otello - are considered to have a

greater unity between text and music. But Forza has the

strongest emotional pull. The story may be pure

opera-illogico of the soap variety, but the emotions

expressed within the dilemmas of the characters are

powerful, moving. It is among the gloomiest of Verdi's

operas, tense, brooding, morbid. Classic themes of thwarted

love and revenge. But there's also spirit, quirkiness

(Preziosilla, Melitone), and perhaps most significantly for

me, profound spirituality. The second scene in the second

act is one of the most inspired from Verdi, one I go back

to with eager familiarity. The "Madre, Madre pietosa

Vergine" is a peerless expression of pleading for mercy and

devotional fervor, with the monks' backing chorus creating

a truly haunting effect. Nothing is more beautiful than

that section beginning "Ah! que'sublimi cantici..." (and we

are treated again later to the equally ravishing "La

Vergine degli angeli"). The long duet with Guardiano and

Leonora is an amazing piece of writing, one of the best

musical "dialogues" for soprano and bass; usually these

"father/child" duets are boring, but this scene,

imaginative, urgent and detailed, is powerful drama. One

passage I love in this is the prelude to "Il santo nome di

Dio signore," where there is a long solo for organ; it

achieves pure magic with a lone violin, on high, intoning

the "Deh, non m'abbandonar" melody. The contrast between

the organ and violin produces an ethereal, eerie effect.

This is by far some of the most raptly spiritual music

Verdi ever wrote. And, of course, there's "Pace, pace mio

Dio."



Abetting my enjoyment of the opera is the mid-fifties

recording of it put out by Decca/London, conducted by

Francesco Molinari-Pradelli. It may not be the most "of

the theater" performance of the opera, but it is one of the

greatest overall casts ever assembled on a Verdi recording.

At any time. At least I think so. Here's who we get:

Renata Tebaldi, Giulietta Simoonato, Mario del Monaco,

Ettore Bastianini, Cesare Siepi and Fernando Corena. All

huge voices, all healthy, robust; true Verdi voices,

stylists. All in their resplendent prime. All ITALIAN.

Nothing else like that for ages. And ages.



In my estimation, Leonora was Tebaldi's best Verdi role,

and perhaps the best Leonora of the last several decades.

The voice and manner sound so ineffably, authentically

"right." Don't tell me she's under the pitch in some of

the highest notes: IT DOESN'T MATTER. Pedigreed Verdi

singing of this nature is extinct. The full-bodied

softness, the exquisite diction, the comet-like soaring -

it doesn't get better than this. Her "Madre, madre

pietosa Vergine" is one I listen to the most. The rhythmic

urgency, the fullness of tone - and she sounds as if she's

really talking to God. And I feel; only a devout Roman

Catholic could possibly understand the religious piety of

Leonora, and it's especially important here. With Verdi

and Tebaldi, you Believe. You better believe it.



Hearing del Monaco and Bastianini just effortlessly plunge

their hearts and voices in their music and duets is the

sweetest sound to my ears: they fence as only Italian

uomini can do, and moreover, exhibit not a whiff of stress

doing so. Immense, powerful sounds. Bastianini's "Urna

fatale" is close to being my favorite rendition of the

aria; there is a beautifully imparted bittersweetness to

the voice, a smarting irony that goes right to the heart.

Del Monaco is not all just his usual glorious fire and

brass; "O, tu che in seno agli angeli" has as much

sensitivity as you could want - and are going to get - from

a "confident" Italian tenor.



Simionato rips through an ungrateful killer of a role with

utter nonchalance and great spirit; "Al suon del tamburo"

and "Rataplan"are both a bitch of pieces to sing,

requiring the mezzo to skip up and down nimbly, but

Simionato just laughs merrily through it all. She makes it

sound like a piece of cake.



Siepi delivers the best sung Guardiano of any on record

that I know of. So many magical sections come to mind

immediately: "Venite fidente alla croce...", "Sull'alba il

piede all'eremo", "Il santo nome di Dio signore", "Non

imprecare umiliati" ~~ no other Guardiano has a voice so

beautifully resonant, so well placed, and such consummate

ease with this complex music. So many basses rumble

portentously through this music so that they sound like

gassy, juddering old farts, but Siepi just caresses the ear

constantly, and not just with the sound. He traverses

easily through the difficult writing; listen to how he

manages in the final trio the line `d'ira e furor

sacrilego, non proferir parola; vedi, vedi quest'angiol

vola al trono del Signor.' This section zips up and down

the voice's range, and requires supreme breath control, and

security at either ends of the range. Most basses are

gasping for leverage here, but not Siepi. In fact, he sings

this role with such ease, he's often accused of sounding

uninvolved. Ha. Listen to the way he and Corena, in their

long and legendary partnership, spark each other in the

duet with Melitone and Guardiano.



Others versions I like: the rediscovered 1958 Napoli

performance on video (but Christoff is an unidiomatic major

blot for me). Tebaldi even greater. The young Corelli.

Bastianini. Oralia Dominguez. A priceless document.

(Leontyne is in the 1984 MET performance).



The 1953 Mitropoulos from Firenze. Tebaldi ferociously

intense. Siepi again great. Protti so-so. Barbieri,

Barbieri. Del monaco more sensitive than on Decca.

Mitropoulos - slow tempi, but dramatic.



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