overture to la forza del destino GIUSEPPE VERDI (1813-1901) When the genre of bel canto operas was extinct and Wagner's modern operas began to rock the musical world, Verdi wrote the opera La Forza del Destino, which he considered the "first of his modern operas". This is the only one of Verdi's operas with an abstract title. The main idea of the work is Verdi's vision of an opera of the future. This work expresses the force of destiny, which hits the protagonists accidentally. The curse, which is central to the plot, was the source of a traditional superstition among opera singers and stage directors. Luciano Pavarotti avoided singing the opera's leading tenor role - Don Alvaro. Renowned Jewish-American baritone Leonard Warren died during a performance of La Forza at the Metropolitan Opera in 1960, just as he was about to sing the cabaletta which begins with the words "To die! What an awesome thing" (Morir! Tremenda cosa) in Act III. La Forza del Destino was written by commission of the Imperial Theatre of St. Petersburg in 1861-2 to a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Don Alvaro by the Spanish Duke Angel de Saavedra, from 1835. The first performances in St. Petersburg in November 1862, as well as the first ones in Italy, were not very successful, mainly due to the opera's unusual length, as well as its bloody ending. In order to make it more popular, Verdi revised the opera in 1868-9. In the second version some of the scenes were rearranged. In addition, the famous long overture, played tonight, was written. In the period between the two versions of La Forza Verdi wrote the opera Don Carlo. The development of Verdi's style during that time is noticeable in this impressive piece, Verdi's best known overture. The overture begins with a fast and stormy theme that is identified with ca. 7 mins.
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