Verdi’s La Forza del Destino

Giuseppe Verdi, October 9/10, 1813 – January 27, 1901

Renata Tebaldi can be found on a number of recordings of La Forza, all of them live except one studio version on London/Decca. The soprano always had a great success with the role of Leonora both in Italy and at the Met and seemed to enjoy taking on one of Verdi’s most tormented heroines. Most times Tebaldi had no problems with any of the vocal and dramatic hurdles in her portrayal. Possibly the Italian Diva’s best rendition can be found on a performance from the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, taped on June 14, 1953 under the baton of Dimitri Mitropoulos. His conducting is both poignant and dramatically propulsive; the famous overture is quite a vivid and full-scale interpretation.

All the performances have an inspired feeling about them due mostly to their outstanding vocal and dramatic output that on this day showed why Forza aways needs great singers to be fully appreciated.

Mario Del Monico’s Alvaro shows the vocal prowess coupled with a warm execution which his fans knew he had and can stand up to any scrutiny his detractors put forth. Cesare Siepi’s Padre Guardiano is vocally sturdy in expressing one of Verdi’s most compassionate paternal figures making the convent duet with Tebaldi an opulent experience. Both Fedora Barbieri’s cushiony lilt in her Preziosilla and Renato Capecchi’s insightful vocal acting as the cynical Fra Melitone show the overall strength of this cast. If Aldo Protti’s Don Carlo did not always express the sonority we like to hear in this role, he still made a solid contribution when needed. In 1953, Tebaldi had all the vocal and dramatic resources Leonora required, allowing her beautiful sound to ring out and completely capture all the vocal drama she loved to invest into this role.

This performance can be found on the Archipel label-ARPCD 0126 which, unfortunately, may be out of print.