Word: forza
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Soprano Leontyne Price, who was married at the Abyssinian in 1952, got standing ovations before, between and after her splendid performances of Pace, pace from Verdi's La Forza del Destino and He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. Price knew her audience, and knew it was not to be patronized. Announcing her encore, Vissi d'arte from Puccini's Tosca, she was engulfed by cheers of recognition. The program then moved from Tosca to toe-tapping, as Gospel Superstar Betty Perkins swept onstage and picked up a microphone. The Philharmonic percussion section laid...
...spreading fight over legalized abortion, the 75-day-old government was moribund; even friendly opponents refused to vote for its survival and other politicians chided the Premier for prolonging the agony. One opera buff among them likened Moro's Cabinet to the soldiers' chorus in La Forza del Destino, which in one scene sings "Andiam, andiam, andiam" ("We're leaving, we're leaving, we're leaving") without ever quite getting offstage...
...that the plots are often preposterous. Coincidence stretches the bounds of credibility (though critics might note that there is a lot of coincidence in life, too, and that its absence in a story can be more unrealistic than its presence). Typical is the moment in Verdi's La Forza del Destino, when Don Alvaro throws his pistol to the floor to show that he is above dueling with his sweetheart's father, the gun goes off and fires a bullet right through Pop's heart. Mistaken identity is rife; a girl who has spent the night with...
VERDI: LA FORZA DEL DESTINO (RCA Victor; 4 LPs). Schippers again, but without the imagination he gives to Macbeth. He just keeps things going along and lets his experienced performers (Leontyne Price, Richard Tucker, Giorgio Tozzi) take over. Price is at her very best. Her voice magnifies Verdi's intent and makes every hoary old aria sound as if it were written yesterday. Tucker at 50 gives every indication that he can go on singing forever-a cheering prospect. Only Tozzi is disappointing. His voice sounds dry, and he does the role of the padre like a priest droning...
...another Parmensi have booed virtually all the big names in Italian opera. "Go back to Rome, fatty!" shouted the galleries after the late Tenor Beniamino Gigli hit a sour note. Toscanini swore never again to step into the Parma pit after a heckler upset a 1912 performance of the Forza del Destino overture by shouting "Maestro, the violins are out of tune!" But lately the gallery gadflies are getting even sharper -or performers are getting softer. Opera has almost been run out of town...