State Opera - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2008 - 55 Euro Cent

Once again, an opera premiere by the Vienna State Opera is the occasion for a special stamp. This time it is "La forza del destino" (The Force of Destiny), an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901). Verdi wrote the opera after a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave as commissioned work in just four months. The premiere of the opera took place in Petersburg in 1862 and was received enthusiastically. Verdi later revised the work, which was 'an accumulation of misfortunes and improbabilities' as Verdi himself wrote to his librettist. Thus, the opera was premiered a second time in 1869, this time at the Milan Scala. To this day, the work enjoys great popularity, the fate motif attracts from the overture as a guide through the whole opera: Leonora loves against the will of her family Alvaro. When he wants to kidnap her, he accidentally kills her father, who curses the daughter dying. Leonora and Alvaro are losing their lives. Don Carlos, Leonora's brother, meets the boy dressed as a boy by chance in a village inn. Leonora recognizes him and flees. She finds herself in a monastery. Alvaro, who has become a soldier, saves the life of Don Carlos, they become friends. Then Don Carlos discovers who his friend is and it comes to fight. The fighters are separated, Alvaro goes to the monastery. In front of the convent, where Leonora and Alvaro live side by side unrecognized, Don Carlos forces Alvaro to a duel. Alvaro kills Carlos, but dying stabs his hurried sister. Alvaro finds himself with fate. Giuseppe Verdi was one of the great masters of nineteenth-century Italian opera. In 1842 he succeeded with "Nabucco" a sensational success, the music became a symbol of the Italian freedom struggle. Verdi designed his operas as true dramas, carried by acting people in extraordinary situations. The melody lead made him the bearer of dramatic expression, through the music he intensified his depth of feeling and increased the psychological impact of the characters - especially the women's roles. One of the highlights of Verdi's oeuvre is the still popular operas "Rigoletto", "Il Trovatore" and "La Traviata". As an international celebrity Verdi wrote operas for Paris, Petersburg, London and even Cairo. The publisher Ricordi allowed the master to live from his compositions. In collaboration with Arrigo Boito Verdi created his most mature operas at the age of 70 years: "Othello" and "Falstaff". The premiere at the Vienna State Opera is on March 1, 2008. The director David Pountney, as often in Vienna, directs Richard Hudson.