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.

Part of Tutto Verdi series - Oberto (2007) Parma. Oberto was the first of Verdi’s operas to be staged and was heard for the first time at La Scala, Milan, in November 1839. As a young and unknown composer, Verdi was subject to the rules then governing the opera industry in Italy. Even so, there are already many scenes in this early work that reveal unmistakable signs of the composer’s individual style.

I Lombardi alla prima crociata (The Lombards on the First Crusade) was Verdi’s fourth opera and received its first performance at La Scala, Milan, in February 1843. The grandiloquent subject matter is fleshed-out with broad-brushed musical and dramatic effects and lavish choral scenes created a correspondingly impressive impact. A great success in Milan, it spread to the rest of Europe within a matter of only a few years.

A requiem inspired by the death, on May 22, 1873, of the Italian poet and writer Alessandro Manzoni, author of the novel “The Betrothal”. Giuseppe Verdi’s “Messa da Requiem” (more commonly known as the “Verdi Requiem”) is a requiem mass for soloists (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and bass), double choir, and orchestra, premiered on May 22, 1874, at the Church of San Marco in Milan. The Requiem is Verdi’s only major composition not intended for the opera. From the 27-opera Verdi box set “Tutto Verdi.” Recorded live at the Teatro Farnese in Parma on October 8, 2011.