Lyric Opera 2021-2022 Special Issue: Verdi Voices

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 12 La forza del destino , Overture The score of La forza del destino (1862) is decidedly grand-scale, befitting a plot that unfolds across a vast panorama in mid-18th- century Spain and Italy. This work’s majesty is evident in the overture, long a favorite in concert programs. Along with unique vigor and power, it emphasizes two themes associated with the heroine, Leonora: her soaring plea to the Almighty for pity; and a more buoyant melody, sung after Padre Guardiano, father superior of the Hornachuelos monastery, informs the desperate Leonora that he can provide her with a refuge from the world. Nabucco ,“Ben io t’invenni … Anch’io dischiuso un giorno … Salgo già del trono aurato” After the mixed reception of his first opera, Oberto (1839), and the fiasco of his second, Un giorno di regno (1840), Verdi could easily have given up his quest for success in the opera house (particularly after the deaths of his wife and two infant children within fourteen months). Fortunately, his third opera, Nabucco (1842), scored a triumph, paving the way for the stupendous career that lay ahead. Abigaille has been raised as the daughter of Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar), king of Babylon. While he’s away fighting the Israelites, she discovers certain proof that she was actually born a slave. She rages about this in her recitative, but then moves into an exquisite cavatina, in which she longs for the love of Ismaele, nephew of the king of Jerusalem. Consumed by her desire for power, she then declares—in a wide-ranging, thrillingly florid cabaletta—that she will seize the throne from Nabucco. Ernani ,“Mercè, diletti amici … Come rugiada al cespite … O tu che l’alma”;“Surta è la notte … Ernani, involami … Tutto sprezzo che d’Ernani” Based on a drama by Victor Hugo, Ernani (1844) offers larger- than-life personalities, brought to life in glorious music. The opera is firmly rooted in the bel canto tradition, while at the same time boasting a rhythmic energy that was Verdi’s alone. The title character is a nobleman, deprived of his lands and now forced to live as a bandit. He begins the opera with an elegant cavatina, in which he thinks ardently of his beloved Elvira. In an exhilarating cabaletta, he asks his cohorts to assist him in abducting her. Verdi gave his soprano an exceptionally rewarding entrance scene. Elvira first sings an elaborate cavatina, in which she hopes that Ernani will free her from the embraces of Silva, her uncle, who’s soon to marry her. When Silva’s wedding presents are offered to her, she ignores them and, in sparkling song, declares that she loves only Ernani. Simon Boccanegra ,“O inferno … Sento avvampar nell’anima” When Simon Boccanegra premiered in Venice in 1857, it was essentially still a work in progress. Verdi gave himself nearly a quarter-century to consider what could be done to improve the opera. His work with a new collaborator, librettist Arrigo Boito (a notable composer himself), transformed Boccanegra , which triumphed in its revised version at Milan’s La Scala in 1881. Simon Boccanegra, the Doge of Genoa, has an enemy in the hotheaded aristocrat Gabriele Adorno. Gabriele, in love with Amelia Grimaldi, is unaware that she’s Boccanegra’s long-lost daughter. When Paolo Albiani, the Doge’s favored courtier, hints to Gabriele that Amelia is Boccanegra’s mistress, Verdi gives Gabriele a superb monologue that initially blazes with fury. In its second half, he sadly laments that if Amelia’s virtue has been defiled, he can never see her again. Otello ,“Già nella notte densa” Verdi’s lifelong devotion to Shakespeare led him to the Bard’s Othello , which he adapted for a work that received an ecstatic response in its 1887 Milan premiere. One of opera’s greatest adaptations from spoken theater, Otello is a miracle of musical and dramatic economy, while combining intimacy and grandeur in equal proportions. Otello, governor of Cyprus, has promoted the officer Cassio over the ensign Iago. In a drunken brawl instigated by the jealous Iago, Cassio wounds Montano, the former governor. After Otello restores calm, demotes Cassio, and sends the Cypriot townspeople on their way, he enjoys a moment alone with his wife, Desdemona. They tenderly recall their courtship and kiss under the stars. Aida ,“Pur ti riveggo … Là tra foreste vergini” For all its immense musical and theatrical scale, Aida (1871) is at the same time a work of surprising intimacy, with frequently only two or three people onstage. They communicate with an intensity that can rivet the listener in this romantic tragedy set in ancient Egypt. Princess Amneris is soon to marry Radamès, captain of the guard, but he loves Amneris’s slave, Aida. On the banks of the Nile, when Aida meets secretly with Radamès, she’s furious with him until he persuades her that he loves her alone. She then suggests that they could escape Egypt and enjoy a blissful new life “in the virgin forests, fragrant with sweet flowers.” By Roger Pines Program notes