Jacopo, son of Doge Francesco Foscari, was accused of murder and banished from Venice. Longing for his homeland, he writes to the Duke of Milan asking him to intercede with the city council. The letter is intercepted, and Jacopo is brought back to Venice to face further questioning. An opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on a historical play by George Byron. Premiered on 3 November 1844. From the box set of 27 Verdi operas, ‘Tutto Verdi’. Recorded live at the Teatro Regio in Parma on 3, 6, 8, 11 and 19 May 2005.

Donna Leonora, daughter of the Marquis of Calatrava, is about to flee secretly with her lover Don Alvaro (son of the Viceroy of Mexico and an Inca princess). The Marquis bursts in unexpectedly. Alvaro hesitates to raise his weapon against his lover’s father and throws his pistol. As it falls, the pistol goes off and the Marquis is mortally wounded. As he lies dying, he curses his daughter. Don Carlo di Vargas, Leonora’s brother, resolves to avenge his sister and her fiancé for their father’s death. In the turmoil of the chase, Leonora and Alvaro lose track of one another... ‘La forza del destino’ is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, adapted from the play ‘Don Álvaro o la fuerza del destino’ (Spain, 1835) by Ángel de Saavedra, the Duke of Rivas. Premiered on 10 November 1862 at the Imperial Theatre in Saint Petersburg. From the box set of 27 Verdi operas “Tutto Verdi”. Recorded live at the Teatro Regio in Parma on 2 and 5 February 2011.

I due Foscari was Verdi's sixth opera and based on Lord Byron's play The Two Foscari. Rich in intrigue, the plot tells of the final days of the famous Venetian doge, Francesco Foscari, and his illegal overthrow in 1457.