The Comeback
Kate Molleson explores the opera that rescued Verdi's career and transformed Italian opera.
Having vowed never to compose again, Verdi seems destined to disappear from musical history. Instead, an unexpected encounter with the libretto for Nabucco rekindles his creative spark. Kate Molleson traces one of music's great comebacks, from personal despair to sensational success at La Scala. As Verdi embraces ever more daring subjects, clashes with censors and challenges operatic convention, a powerful new voice emerges in Italian music.
Attila: Prelude
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan, conductor
Un giorno di regno: "Pietoso al lungo pianto"
Juan Diego Flórez, tenor
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi
Carlo Rizzi, conductor
Nabucco: Sinfonia and "Gli arredi festivi"
Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Riccardo Muti, conductor
Ernani: Act I scenes
Sylvia Sass, soprano
Hungarian State Opera Chorus and Orchestra
Lamberto Gardelli, conductor
Macbeth: Prelude and Act I scenes
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Ambrosian Singers
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone
Nicolai Ghiaurov, bass
Lamberto Gardelli, conductor
Produced by Ellie Ajao for BBC Audio Wales
On radio
Broadcast
- Wed 21 Oct 202616:00BBC Radio 3
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