Video: Chorus Master Donald Palumbo on LA FORZA DEL DESTINO at the Met Opera

Watch as Met Chorus Master Donald Palumbo discusses Verdi’s fateful masterpiece and the integral role of the Met Chorus in the opera’s long-awaited return at the Met Opera.

Says Palumbo "Forza used to be a standard piece at the Met, and it used to be performed every other year. It's been so long now since we've taken up Forza... it's been a revelation for a lot of the chorus saying 'I didn't even know this... I never knew this Opera...  I didn't realize how beautiful it is.' The solar writing but, in particular the chorus writing is just
just very special and unique."

Maestro Nézet-Séguin opens the spring season on February 26 when he conducts Mariusz Treliński's staging of Verdi's La Forza del Destino, the Met's first new production of the work in nearly 30 years. With soprano Lise Davidsen, one of the most sought-after sopranos of her generation, starring as Leonora, Treliński relocates this grand tale of ill-fated love, deadly vendettas, and family strife to contemporary America.

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 Ekaterina Semenchuk as Preziosilla; bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi as Fra Melitone; and bass Soloman Howard as both Leonora's father and Padre Guardiano.

Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen burst onto the international stage in 2015 by winning multiple prizes at the Operalia, Queen Sonja and Hans Gabor Belvedere competitions. These were swiftly followed by triumphant debuts at the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro Alla Scala Milan, Bayerische Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, and the Aix-en-Provence, Bayreuth and Glyndebourne Festivals.

In May 2021 she re-opened La Scala, Milan, with a solo concert under the baton of Riccardo Chailly, and Bayerische Staatsoper with a concert performance of the 1st Act of Die Walküre. In the same week she was awarded Female Singer of the Year by the International Opera Awards. Further highlights include Sieglinde Die Walküre in a new production at Deutsche Oper Berlin and in concert at Opera de Paris; the title role of Jenufa at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; Elisabeth Tannhäuser at Bayerische Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zurich and a return to Bayreuth; and the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos at Aix-en-Provence Festival, Wiener Staatsoper and Glyndebourne Festival.

An exclusive Decca Artist, Davidsen’s discography includes two solo orchestral recitals for the label; complete recordings of Der Freischütz and Fidelio for Pentatone and Sibelius’ Luonnotar on Chandos. Filmed performances include Ortlinde Die Walküre and Fidelio from the Royal Opera House, and Elisabeth Tannhäuser filmed at the Bayreuth Festival.

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