Verdi's grand tale of ill-fated love, deadly vendetta, and family strife.Verdi's grand tale of ill-fated love, deadly vendetta, and family strife.Verdi's grand tale of ill-fated love, deadly vendetta, and family strife.
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Although the picture quality could have better, musically, dramatically and casting-wise this is the best Forza on DVD
La Forza Del Destino is not my favourite of Verdi's operas, however it is a great opera with sublime music, an interesting story and Verdi's best overture. This 1958 Forza is superb, with a dream cast and it is just phenomenal musically.
The picture quality does lack crispness at times. However, when you look past that you have I feel the best Forza you will find on DVD. I did love the 1984 production with Leontyne Price, Giuseppe Giacomini and Leo Nucci, but even that doesn't have the high calibre that this cast has.
When it comes to costumes and sets, it looks suitably sumptuous, and the lighting helps to enhance the atmosphere. The camera work is very good, not always fluid but never too jerky. I wasn't entirely crazy about Christoff's make-up, but it wasn't a big enough flaw really considering how amazing the rest of the performance is.
Musically, this is one of the main reasons why this to me is the best Forza available. There is so much power and poignancy in the orchestral playing while Francesco Molinari-Pradelli proves himself one of the better Verdi conductors at the same time.
Likewise dramatically. The dramatically intense Invano Alvaro is definitely a high point, as is the haunting Pace Pace Mio Dio, but I found Solenne in Quest'Ora very moving, Corelli not lies on his back but he both looks and sounds like he is dying from his wounds, something I don't always see or hear from Don Alvaros.
The singing and acting is superb. I love Renata Tebaldi and I thought she was splendid here. The beauty of tone, the exquisite pianissimo singing, the legato lines and care to diction comes through loud and clear in her singing, and her acting is stylish, gracious and noble which brings out the complexity of Leonora wonderfully. Her Pace Pace Mio Dio is one of the best renditions of that aria I've heard, in terms of sincerity and musicality to me only Leontyne Price and Anna Tomowa-Sintow have matched Tebaldi.
Franco Corelli always was a thrilling tenor with also an ability to move me with his distinctive timbre to his voice. His Don Alvaro is up there with Corelli's best. His singing is as you would expect thrilling and nuanced, and I was really impressed with his acting too. Here he shows luminosity in his hopeful duet with Tebaldi, enthusiasm and tenderness in the marriage proposal and pain and poignancy in Solenne in Quest'Ora.
Ettore Bastianini was one of the best Posas and the best Count DiLuna to me. Allow me to say the same for his Don Carlos DiVargas. Dramatically, it is a very convincing interpretation, and he shows off his velvety voice that was so ideal for Verdi so well. He blends with Corelli better than a lot of other tenors and baritones in the roles(even more so than the legendary partnership of Placido Domingo and Sherrill Milnes), and he is superb in Morrir Tremenda Cosa...Urna Fatale, vocally he's rich with no signs of pushing in the exciting albeit difficult Caballetta, and how brooding and vengeful he is in this aria is something to learn from.
This Forza is also special for Boris Christoff. Fans of his- like me, he is my favourite bass due to his dramatic intensity, firm voice and depth to his characterisation- will appreciate this, as it is the only complete performance where you see him acting. Well there is footage of the 1956 broadcast of Boris Godunov, rare footage of King Phillip's lament, Le Veau D'Or and a scene from Attila but as far as I'm aware of they're not complete. This one though is, and any fans of this great bass will find the firmness and expressiveness of his voice, and the reverence, nobility and sympathy of his acting here very special.
Last but not least, Oralia Dominguez. While her voice doesn't quite come across as big or powerful, that said she still sings very musically and with attention to diction and tone.Throughout the comic scenes are very well done, and the contrasts of the sacred and profane well emphasised.
Overall, a brilliant Forza, dramatically and musically unmatched on DVD as far as I'm concerned and with one of the best dream casts you can ask for. 10/10 Bethany Cox
The picture quality does lack crispness at times. However, when you look past that you have I feel the best Forza you will find on DVD. I did love the 1984 production with Leontyne Price, Giuseppe Giacomini and Leo Nucci, but even that doesn't have the high calibre that this cast has.
When it comes to costumes and sets, it looks suitably sumptuous, and the lighting helps to enhance the atmosphere. The camera work is very good, not always fluid but never too jerky. I wasn't entirely crazy about Christoff's make-up, but it wasn't a big enough flaw really considering how amazing the rest of the performance is.
Musically, this is one of the main reasons why this to me is the best Forza available. There is so much power and poignancy in the orchestral playing while Francesco Molinari-Pradelli proves himself one of the better Verdi conductors at the same time.
Likewise dramatically. The dramatically intense Invano Alvaro is definitely a high point, as is the haunting Pace Pace Mio Dio, but I found Solenne in Quest'Ora very moving, Corelli not lies on his back but he both looks and sounds like he is dying from his wounds, something I don't always see or hear from Don Alvaros.
The singing and acting is superb. I love Renata Tebaldi and I thought she was splendid here. The beauty of tone, the exquisite pianissimo singing, the legato lines and care to diction comes through loud and clear in her singing, and her acting is stylish, gracious and noble which brings out the complexity of Leonora wonderfully. Her Pace Pace Mio Dio is one of the best renditions of that aria I've heard, in terms of sincerity and musicality to me only Leontyne Price and Anna Tomowa-Sintow have matched Tebaldi.
Franco Corelli always was a thrilling tenor with also an ability to move me with his distinctive timbre to his voice. His Don Alvaro is up there with Corelli's best. His singing is as you would expect thrilling and nuanced, and I was really impressed with his acting too. Here he shows luminosity in his hopeful duet with Tebaldi, enthusiasm and tenderness in the marriage proposal and pain and poignancy in Solenne in Quest'Ora.
Ettore Bastianini was one of the best Posas and the best Count DiLuna to me. Allow me to say the same for his Don Carlos DiVargas. Dramatically, it is a very convincing interpretation, and he shows off his velvety voice that was so ideal for Verdi so well. He blends with Corelli better than a lot of other tenors and baritones in the roles(even more so than the legendary partnership of Placido Domingo and Sherrill Milnes), and he is superb in Morrir Tremenda Cosa...Urna Fatale, vocally he's rich with no signs of pushing in the exciting albeit difficult Caballetta, and how brooding and vengeful he is in this aria is something to learn from.
This Forza is also special for Boris Christoff. Fans of his- like me, he is my favourite bass due to his dramatic intensity, firm voice and depth to his characterisation- will appreciate this, as it is the only complete performance where you see him acting. Well there is footage of the 1956 broadcast of Boris Godunov, rare footage of King Phillip's lament, Le Veau D'Or and a scene from Attila but as far as I'm aware of they're not complete. This one though is, and any fans of this great bass will find the firmness and expressiveness of his voice, and the reverence, nobility and sympathy of his acting here very special.
Last but not least, Oralia Dominguez. While her voice doesn't quite come across as big or powerful, that said she still sings very musically and with attention to diction and tone.Throughout the comic scenes are very well done, and the contrasts of the sacred and profane well emphasised.
Overall, a brilliant Forza, dramatically and musically unmatched on DVD as far as I'm concerned and with one of the best dream casts you can ask for. 10/10 Bethany Cox
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- TheLittleSongbird
- Nov 2, 2011
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