Giuseppe Verdi travelled to St Petersburg in 1862 to premiere La forza del destino, which had been commissioned by the city’s Imperial Theatre. The source material appealed to the composer’s sense of tragic intensity and the ruthlessness of destiny. The local audience was accustomed to 18th-century Italian opera as well as French grand opéra, and the resulting work is a synthesis of aristocratic drama and popular comedy. In 1869 he revised the work so that it ends in death and transfiguration. This critically admired production of the revised version is conducted by Zubin Mehta, in a new staging that was ‘enriched by some brilliant artists’ (Lyric Opera Journal).

New and innovative modern staging by the director Carlus Padrissa, who is the founding member of the world famous Catalan theatre group, La Fura dels Baus.

‘Three hours of a convincing performance, which managed to ignite reflections and questions about multiple aspects of human destiny, enriched by some brilliant artists and an open musicality.’ – Lyric Opera Journal

‘Saioa Hernández debuts the role of Leonora with enviable security of the high register and good management of her centre register… Annalisa Stroppa is an all-round Preziosilla…’ – Classical Music Daily

Cast:
- Leonora: Saioa Hernández (soprano)
- Don Alvaro: Roberto Aronica (tenor)
- Don Carlo di Vargas: Amartuvshin Enkhbat (baritone)
- Preziosilla: Annalisa Stroppa (soprano)
- Padre guardiano: Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass)
- Fra Melitone: Nicola Alaimo (baritone)
- Il Marchese di Calatrava: Alessandro Spina (bass)
- Mastro Trabuco: Leonardo Cortellazzi (tenor)
- Curra: Valentina Corò (soprano)
- Un Alcade: Francesco Samuele Venuti (bass)
- Un Chirurgo: Roman Lyulkin (bass)

Director: Carlus Padrissa (La Fura dels Baus)
Assistant director: João Aboim Carvalho
Set designer: Roland Olbeter
Assistant set designer| Esterina Zarrillo
Light and video designer: Franc Aleu
Costume designer: Chu Uroz
Video director: Tiziano Mancini

Recording place: Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Recording date: 4 June 2021
Sung in Italian

Video format / Aspect ratio: NTSC – 16:9
Audio format: PCM 2.0 – Dolby digital 5.1
Region code: 0 – All regions
Subtitles: Italian, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean
Notes: Italian, English
Duration: 190 min. approx.