Verdi – La Forza del Destino: ROHCG – 27/9/23

Director, Christof Loy; Designer,Christian Schmidt; Lighting Designer, Olaf Winter; Choreographer, Otto Pichler. Conductor, Mark Elder. Donna Leonora, Sondra Radvanovsky; Don Alvaro, Brian Jagde; Don Carlo Di Vargas, Aleksei Isaev; Padre Guardiano, Evgeny Stavinsky; Preziosilla, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya; Fra Melitone, Rodion Pogossov; Mastro Trabuco, Carlo Bosi; Marquis of Calatrava, James Creswell; Curra, Chanáe Curtis; Alcalde, Thomas D. Hopkinson

Oh dear. My Verdi re-evaluation was going so well….. I saw Rigoletto in 2021 and was thrilled by its energy and the tightness of the drama. I was convinced by the new ROHCG production of Aida when I saw it in the cinema, also in 2021. I enjoyed Traviata with a star soprano (Lisette Oropesa). And I was very impressed by hearing Don Carlo with Lisa Davidsen. So I came to the performance of Forza with an open mind. But I’m afraid I left at the end of the performance as unimpressed with the work as I had been by the Met relay last year.

There were several reasons why this performance put me off this work for good….

1. It’s long – 4 hours of music and intervals; in fact, it’s too long and could do with extensive cutting
2. It’s a totally daft plot, full of unlikely coincidences and spread over so many years it becomes completely disjointed. If the plot were just the murder and revenge story that would be tighter and make more sense. But thrown into the mix are the Preziosilla scenes which have nothing to do with the main plot, lots of religious references that don’t necessarily sit easily on modern ears and the obligatory dance sequences. Totally, it was opera it its worst……. Several people around me in the Lower Slips left at the first interval – I wanted to say to them – it’s not always like this: look at Wagner, Mozart, Puccini, Britten etc…….
3. Much though I love his performances, I’ve noticed that Mark Elder has tended to slow down of late when he is conducting music he clearly loves. He does evidently love Verdi and the work I think was too lovingly conducted, with not enough bite and energy at times. I also thought that the orchestra – who played so magnificently for Pappano the previous evening in Rheingold – were a bit asleep at some points; there were several moments when someone came in too early or carried on when they should have ended (including, embarrassingly, the last note, where the violins carried on after the last plonk from the basses). Someone was telling me the orchestra gets paid overtime if they have to play beyond 1030. This performance finished at 1027….
4. Although the themes from the overture occurs frequently, on the whole the music is less memorable than say Don Carlo.
5. There are moments when social injustices are expressed, and the poverty of many people after the wars is apparent, but these are in no way integrated into the story

On the positive side:

1. A director would have to work his socks off to make all this coherent. I am sure Christof Loy did work very hard and did what he could to make sense of the plot, but it was not enough. The set was basically the same throughout – a multi-angled room that served as Leonora’s home, an inn, the monastery, and, with the back wall removed and a country scene projected instead, a military camp. The basic set worked well. The dancing sequences were very effective. Helpful use was made of video to bring back flashes of memory of Leonora’s father’s murder – or accidental death, rather….. The action during the overture made clear the unpleasantness of Leonora’s father. Costumes were unspecifically 20^th century for the most part – mainly greys, blacks and whites with some colour for Leonora and Preziosilla
2. There were several star performances. Sondra Radvonovsky  was terrific as Leonora – she was also performing the same role in the Met relay. She has a powerful voice that carries easily over the orchestra, she can act, and she looks convincing on stage; she also showed she could sing beautifully and subtly at times. I was very impressed by her. Brian Jagde had an apology made for him at the beginning – he had a cold, but he was impressively unrestrained in his high notes despite that, and struck me, as he had with Lise Davidsen in Don Carlo, as a very fine singer; there were just a couple of moments where his voice cracked under pressure, clearly due to his cold. I was also impressed by Yevgeny Stavinsky as Padre Guardiano. Generally the singing was at a high level and the acting was decent enough.
3. The other positive factor is that, because I rather feared I would have the reaction I’ve described, I only bought a Lower Slips seat (A24-goodish) and I was reminded what good value these seats are – wonderful sound and good view really of a lot of the stage. I must sit there more often

Photos by Camilla Greenwell