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Nineteenth-century Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi created some of the finest operatic works ever composed. The plot of La Forza del Destino (The Force of Destiny, 1862) focuses on the themes of racial persecution and personal betrayal. Verdi composed the opera in mid-career, when he began developing more sophisticated approaches to the orchestral framework of his operas. This synopsis comes from the renowned La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy.
Seville. A hall in the palace of the Marquis of Calatrava.
After receiving a goodnight blessing from her father, the old Marquis of Calatrava, Donna Leonora prepares to elope with Don Alvaro, a Peruvian of royal lineage persecuted by the Spanish rulers. Torn between love and obedience to her father, who will not hear of marriage to a man of uncertain origins, Leonora tells Don Alvaro she would like to delay their departure. After a moment's hesitation however, she declares she is ready to go with him. At this point the Marquis bursts into the room and challenges the man he believes to be his daughter's seducer. To prove his innocence, Don Alvaro has no hesitation in throwing down his pistol, but on hitting the floor the weapon fires a shot which mortally wounds the old Marquis. He dies cursing his daughter.
The village of Hornachuelos and countryside. A large kitchen in a tavern.
Don Carlo of Vargas, son of the Marquis of Calatrava, has sworn to avenge his father's death. For a while he has been searching for his sister Leonora and her accomplice, in the belief that they have fled together. In reality, the lovers have not met again since the tragic night of the old gentleman's accidental death. Having entered the inn in male attire, Leonora recognizes her brother, who is disguised as the student Pereda. She gets away, however, without being discovered, while the gypsy woman Preziosilla sings the praises of military life.
A clearing on a steep mountainside, opposite the church of the Madonna of the Angels.
Hoping to escape her brother's wrath and to expiate her sense of guilt over the death of her father, Leonora seeks sanctuary in a monastery. She confides her story to the Abbot and asks permission to retreat to a nearby hermitage to spend the rest of her life in solitude. The Abbot invites Leonora to reflect on the gravity of her decision, but gives his consent. He assembles the friars and instructs them not to violate the secret surrounding the unknown penitent. He then prays to the Blessed Virgin for protection.
In Italy near Velletri. A wood.
On the battlefield Spanish and Italian forces face the Austrian troops. Don Alvaro has joined the Spanish army under the false name of Don Federico Herreros, and has achieved fame as a hero. He meditates now on his misadventures and sadly misses Leonora whom he believes dead. During a brawl, Don Alvaro saves the life of the officer Don Felice de Bornos, who is in reality Don Carlo, Leonora's brother. Without recognizing each other, the two soldiers swear everlasting friendship.
Drawing room in the house of a high-ranking officer of the Spanish army in Italy.
Don Alvaro has been badly wounded and believes he is about to die. He therefore entrusts his friend with a box containing a sealed package, and asks him to promise he will burn it after his death. But Don Carlo, who has suspicions about Don Alvaro's true identity, opens the box and finds in it, without actually unsealing the package, a portrait of Leonora. He now possesses proof that his wounded friend is, in reality, the seducer of his sister and the murderer of his father. On hearing that Don Alvaro is out of danger, Don Carlo plans his vendetta.
A military camp near Velletri.
Don Carlo reveals to Don Alvaro - who has now recovered - that he knows his real identity. After revealing his own identity, he challenges his former friend to a duel. Don Alvaro tries in vain to calm his adversary's fury, but when he learns that Leonora is alive and that her brother intends to kill her, he accepts the challenge. Their duel, however, is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a patrol. Don Alvaro resolves to spend the rest of his life in a monastery, while the army camp is animated by singing and dancing. Brother Melitone's sermon is echoed by the rataplan intoned by Preziosilla.
Near Hornachuelos. Interior of the monastery of the Madonna of the Angels.
For five years Don Alvaro has been in retreat at the monastery of the Madonna of the Angels, without knowing that in the nearby hermitage Leonora also is living out her solitary expiation. After distributing daily bread to a crowd of beggars, Brother Melitone announces the visit of a foreigner. He is Don Carlo, who has succeeded in tracking down his enemy. He now provokes and insults Don Alvaro until he is finally forced to fight.
An inaccessible rocky valley, crossed by a stream.
Having mortally wounded Don Carlo, Don Alvaro comes to the hermitage, imploring help for his adversary. Leonora comes out and recognizes her beloved Don Alvaro. She moves to help her dying brother, but with his last breath he slays her. Comforted by the words of the Abbot, Leonora dies invoking God's forgiveness for all.
Source: Teatro alla Scala [http://lascala.milano.it/]
Appears in
Verdi, Giuseppe
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