Met Opera Live in HD presents Italian opera ‘La Forza Del Destino’

Giuseppe Verdi’s tragic opera, “La Forza Del Destino,” will be shown March 9 at the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish as part of the live streaming season of the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD. 

Sung in Italian with subtitles, Director Mariusz Treliński delivers the company’s first new “Forza” in nearly 30 years, moving Verdi’s grand tale of ill-fated love, deadly vendetta, and family strife to the present day and examining the drama’s themes through a contemporary lens. The performance makes extensive use of the Met’s turntable to represent the unstoppable advance of destiny that drives the opera’s chain of calamitous events. 

In Act I, a ball celebrating the birthday of Leonora, daughter of a powerful general, is concluding. Leonora’s lover, Alvaro, a self-conscious, poor young man, meets her clandestinely and then rushes off. Leonora’s father enters to drunkenly bid her goodnight and disparages Alvaro, saying that he is unworthy of his daughter due to his lower-class upbringing. Leonora, despite her father’s aversion, is deeply in love with Alvaro and aims to elope with him. As they depart, however, Leonora’s father unexpectedly enters and discovers Alvaro and threatens him with arrest. Alvaro insists that he loves Leonora and that she is unsullied. To prove that he is not a threat, Alvaro throws down his gun. It accidentally fires, fatally wounding the general, who dies cursing his daughter. The lovers are separated as Alvaro escapes and both ultimately believe the other is dead.

In Act II, at an officers club, Leonora, dressed as a man, recognizes her brother Carlo who is disguised as a military cadet hunting for his sister and her lover to avenge the death of their father. A mysterious entertainer named Preziosilla tells the soldier’s fortunes and encourages them to seek glory in battle. In a beautiful solo, Carlo tells them of his father’s death. Leonora overhears his song and barely escapes discovery by him. She flees in a rainstorm and crashes her car, making her way to a monastery. Guardiano, the Father Superior, allows her to stay when he understands who she is and learns that her brother has vowed to kill her. She cuts her hair and passes among the friars to the hermitage, where she will spend the rest of her life in solitude.

In Act III, Alvaro and Carlo have both enlisted under false names in the army. One night, Alvaro saves Carlo’s life, neither aware of the other’s identity, forging a bond of friendship as they battle side by side. In one of the battles, Alvaro is seriously wounded, prompting him to give his private papers to Carlo. While Alvaro orders Carlo not to look at the contents and burn the papers upon his death, Carlo’s suspicious curiosity leads him to look through the belongings where he finds his sister’s picture. He then understands that his friend is his father’s murderer. When word arrives that Alvaro will live, Carlo is overjoyed at the idea that he can still avenge his father’s death. A few months later, Carlo confronts a recovered Alvaro and challenges him to a duel. They fight, but Alvaro stops himself from delivering the deadly blow and instead turns his knife on himself, cutting his face. Repenting his violent anger, he resolves to enter a monastery.

Finally in Act IV, Alvaro now goes by the name of Father Raffaele, living in a monastery nearby to Leonora’s retreat. After searching for him for five years, Carlo arrives at the monastery goading Alvaro to fight, despite Alvaro’s pleas for peace. Alvaro wounds him, leaves to seek help, and recognizes Leonora, who turns up having been alerted by the noise. As she sees her brother dying, she stoops over him, only to have him stab her in the heart recalling his sister’s betrayal. As Leonora dies in the arms of Alvaro, her desperate lover who curses Destiny for conspiring against them, she forgives him and, with her last gasp, proclaims that she will await Alvaro in heaven.

Lise Davidsen following a string of recent Met triumphs with her role debut as the noble Leonora, one of the repertory’s most tormented — and thrilling — heroines. The distinguished cast also features tenor Brian Jagde as Leonora’s forbidden beloved Don Alvaro, baritone Igor Golovatenko as her vengeful brother Don Carlo, mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi as the fortune teller Preziosilla, bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi as Fra Melitone, and bass Soloman Howard as both Leonora’s father and Padre Guardiano. Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Verdi’s thrilling masterpiece, while a host will provide exclusive behind-the-scenes access, conducting interviews with the cast and creative team during intermission.

Doors open at 9:30 a.m. and the opera starts at 10 a.m. The approximate run time is four hours and 20 minutes, including two intermissions. Food and beverages will be available for purchase during the performance. 

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students, paid by cash or check only. Tickets are only sold at the door. 

The live broadcast is presented by Whitefish Theatre Company, in collaboration with the Whitefish Arts Council and the Whitefish Performing Arts Center.

For more information visit www.whitefishtheatreco.org or call 406-862-5371 for more information.