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La Forza del Destino
Metropolitan Opera House, Wed, September 22, 1982
La Forza del Destino (183)
Giuseppe Verdi | Francesco Maria Piave
- Leonora
- Leona Mitchell
- Don Alvaro
- Giuseppe Giacomini
- Don Carlo
- Sherrill Milnes
- Padre Guardiano
- Bonaldo Giaiotti
- Preziosilla
- Isola Jones
- Fra Melitone
- Gabriel Bacquier
- Marquis de Calatrava
- Richard Vernon
- Curra
- Jean Kraft
- Mayor
- James Courtney
- Trabuco
- Andrea Velis
- Surgeon
- Russell Christopher
- Conductor
- James Levine
- Production
- John Dexter
- Set Designer
- Eugene Berman
- Costume Designer
- Peter J. Hall
- Choreographer
- Donald Mahler
- Stage Director
- David Sell
La Forza del Destino received sixteen performances this season.
FUNDING:
Revival a gift of The LeVine Foundation, Detroit, Michigan
Review 1:
Review of Robert Kimball in the Daily News
Leona Mitchell scores in Met's 'La Forza'
Leona Mitchell, in her debut as Leonora, sang her way into the top echelons of Verdi heroines and into the hearts of the Metropolitan Opera audience the other night in the season's first performances of "La Forza del Destino." Her radiant voice soared rhapsodically and there was a special tenderness in her doom-drenched portrayal.
There is much more to praise about this brilliantly-sung "Forza," the company's first since 1977, and a good deal of the credit belongs to conductor James Levine, the Met's musical director. "Forza" is filled with great music, but it is a loose, sprawling, episodic, lengthy pageant that requires the kind of firmness and red-hot intensity that Levine bought to it from the pit. His command of the score was so sure that he was able to focus most of his attention on the stage and his cues were masterful.
And what a cast he assembled! Tenor Giuseppe Giacomini, as the Inca Prince Alvaro, who loves Leonora, rung the rafters with his spine-tingling solos. Baritone Sherrill Milnes, Leonora's vengeance-seeking brother Carlo, sang with his customary mastery. The two men were well matched in their duets of comradeship and confrontation. Gabriel Bacquier's hilarious, vibrant Melitone was very special, and Bonaldo Giaiotti's grave Padre Guardiano rose to heights in the closing pages of the tragedy. Isola Jones, saucy and alluring as the gypsy Preziosilla, had all kinds of vocal problems. The John Dexter/Eugene Berman production is a gloomy, yet serviceable, evocation of the inns, courtyards, cloisters and battlefields of 18th Century Spain and Italy.
"Forza" will be performed at the Met again tomorrow afternoon, Thursday evening and on several other occasions. Miss Mitchell can also be seen and heard in the new Luciano Pavarotti film "Yes, Giorgio" which opens today at the Ziegfeld Theater. Her opera career, which has already been a fine one, should blossom after such a splendid Leonora.
Search by season: 1982-83
Search by title: La Forza del Destino,
Met careers
- James Levine [Conductor]
- Leona Mitchell [Leonora]
- Giuseppe Giacomini [Don Alvaro]
- Sherrill Milnes [Don Carlo]
- Bonaldo Giaiotti [Padre Guardiano]
- Isola Jones [Preziosilla]
- Gabriel Bacquier [Fra Melitone]
- Richard Vernon [Marquis de Calatrava]
- Jean Kraft [Curra]
- James Courtney [Mayor]
- Andrea Velis [Trabuco]
- Russell Christopher [Surgeon]
- John Dexter [Production]
- Donald Mahler [Choreographer]
- Eugene Berman [Set Designer]
- Peter J. Hall [Costume Designer]
- David Sell [Stage Director]