La forza del destino

A sprawling drama littered with dramatic twists, La forza del destino is an opera deeply rooted in its age. In 1861 Verdi had become a member of Italy’s parliament, taking a two-year compositional hiatus while pursuing his political ideals. Yet the Risorgimento was stumbling, and Verdi fell victim to doubt and melancholy—moods that would pervade The Force of Destiny. Starting with a lucrative commission from St. Petersburg’s Imperial Theater, Verdi settled on the 1835 Spanish play Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino as his subject. He reunited with frequent librettist Francesco Maria Piave and worked on the opera for four months, leading to an 1862 premiere. It was a modest success, but Verdi revised it for an 1869 production at La Scala, replacing the original prelude with a portentous overture and tempering the blood-soaked finale. Still, the plot remained a convoluted tale, telling the story of nobleman Don Alvaro, who plans to elope with Leonora, only to accidentally kill her father and prompt a revenge scheme by her brother. La Forza del destino’s mistaken identities and twists of fate are captured in the score’s premonitions and allusions.