Viva Verdi!

Kate Molleson concludes the story of Verdi's rebellious life as the composer finds himself drawn into the political upheavals of a newly emerging Italy. Celebrated as a patriotic hero, urged into public office and claimed as a symbol of national unity, Verdi is frequently uncomfortable with the role thrust upon him. Yet even as politics competes for his attention, music continues to call him back. From La battaglia di Legnano to the mighty Requiem, we follow a composer whose voice became inseparable from the identity of a nation.

La Traviata: Libiamo ne' lieti calici
Maria Callas, soprano
Francesco Albanese, tenor
RAI Chorus and Orchestra Turin
Gabriele Santini, conductor

La battaglia di Legnano scenes
José Carreras, tenor
Katia Ricciarelli, soprano
Matteo Manuguerra, baritone
ORF Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Lamberto Gardelli, conductor

Simon Boccanegra: Plebe! Patrizi!
Ludovic Tézier, bass-baritone
Marina Rebeka, soprano
Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli
Michele Spotti, conductor

Don Carlo, Act III scenes
Carlo Bergonzi, tenor
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone
Nicolai Ghiaurov, bass
Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Sir Georg Solti, conductor

Requiem: Introit, Kyrie and Dies Irae
London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor

Produced by Ellie Ajao for BBC Audio Wales