Viva Verdi!

Available for 28 days

Kate Molleson concludes the story of Verdi's rebellious life as the composer finds himself drawn into the political upheavals of a newly emerging Italy. Celebrated as a patriotic hero, urged into public office and claimed as a symbol of national unity, Verdi is frequently uncomfortable with the role thrust upon him. Yet even as politics competes for his attention, music continues to call him back. From La battaglia di Legnano to the mighty Requiem, we follow a composer whose voice became inseparable from the identity of a nation. La Traviata: Libiamo ne' lieti calici Maria Callas, soprano Francesco Albanese, tenor RAI Chorus and Orchestra Turin Gabriele Santini, conductor La battaglia di Legnano scenes José Carreras, tenor Katia Ricciarelli, soprano Matteo Manuguerra, baritone ORF Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Lamberto Gardelli, conductor Simon Boccanegra: Plebe! Patrizi! Ludovic Tézier, bass-baritone Marina Rebeka, soprano Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli Michele Spotti, conductor Don Carlo, Act III scenes Carlo Bergonzi, tenor Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone Nicolai Ghiaurov, bass Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Sir Georg Solti, conductor Requiem: Introit, Kyrie and Dies Irae London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra Gianandrea Noseda, conductor Produced by Ellie Ajao for BBC Audio Wales