Die Macht des Schicksals by Verdi, Mi. 13 Juni 2018, Ab (2018/2018), Unter der Regie von Andreas Homoki,, Dirigat Fabio Luisi, Opernhaus, Zürich, Schweiz

La forza del destino «The world is going crazy. What kind of times are these!" This sentence from Fra Melitone, the grumpy monk from La forza del destino (The Power of Destiny), could be programmatic for Giuseppe Verdi's opera, which premiered in 1861. In fact, the world is really out of joint in this musical drama. With his gigantic melodrama, the almost 50-year-old Verdi designed a relentless portrait of a war-torn, broken society in which love, affection and mercy only selectively brighten up the darkness of the world. The three main characters of the opera move against this background: Leonora, Don Alvaro and Don Carlo. The love affair between Leonora and Alvaro seems doomed from the start - their social positions are too different for them to hope for a happy fulfillment of their love. The fatal pistol shot at the beginning of the drama, which makes Alvaro the unfortunate murderer of Leonora's father, is probably not the only reason for the couple's unfulfilled union. Nor does the eponymous "fate" have a hand in it when the plot is heading for its tragic end. Rather, it is Leonora's brother Carlo who repeatedly destroys a possible reconciliation through his obstinate lust for revenge and his hatred. With La forza del destinoVerdi created one of his most powerful and melodically colorful scores. The fact that she finds an ideal interpreter in the hands of Fabio Luisi should not only have become clear since his exciting interpretation of Verdi's Messa da Requiem . The large format of the piece is also made for director Andreas Homoki. The horrendously difficult vocal parts are exquisitely cast: the Abkhazian-Russian soprano Hibla Gerzmava can be heard as Leonora for the first time at our house, the tenor Marcelo Puente sings Alvaro and George Petean, who is well known at the opera house, can be heard as Carlo.