Addio

Things go badly wrong between Verdi and Milan and the composer leaves the city. Presented by Donald Macleod.

As the hearse carrying the coffin of the composer Giuseppe Verdi travelled through Milan, more than half of the city’s population lined the streets to pay their respects and catch a final glimpse of their hero. Few musicians have made such an indelible impression on the population of a country, or become so linked to a nation's sense of identity. Fewer still have become as ingrained in the fabric of a city as Verdi is in Milan. Today, as well as a statue to the composer, both the Conservatoire and a major theatre are named after him. So how was this relationship, between the city of Milan and Verdi forged? After all, this was a man born in Le Roncole, which was then French territory, and yet he would rise to become the most successful Italian composer of his generation. Over the course of this week, Donald Macleod explores the twists and turns of Verdi’s relationship with Milan -where Verdi would see his first iconic successes, and where he would breathe his last, but also a city where, for a time, he tried to ban performances of his music.

In Thursday’s programme, Donald explores the circumstances which led to Verdi leaving the city where he had made his home, as pressures tell and Verdi’s health suffers amid rumours of poisoning. The stresses placed on the composer pushed him to breaking point and after an operatic failure at La Scala, tempers clashed and Verdi fell out with La Scala’s shady impresario Merelli, and the librettist Solera. The composer threatened a total ban on his music being performed in Milan. As revolutionary feeling grew in the city and throughout Italy, Verdi decided to leave Milan. After all, there were plenty of other opera houses in Europe, all too willing to agree to his every demand. He wouldn’t return to the city of his early triumphs for over two decades.

Rigoletto – Act I Scene 2 “Addio, addio”
Carlo Bergonzi (Il Duca), tenor
Renata Scotto (Gilda), soprano
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala
Rafael Kubelik, conductor

Giovanna d’Arco – Act 1, Scene 2
Anna Netrebko (Giovanna d’Arco), soprano
Plácido Domingo (Giacomo), baritone
Francesco Meli (Carlo VII), tenor
Philharmonia Chor Wien
Munich Radio Orchestra
Paolo Carignani, conductor

Alzira Overture
Berlin Philharmonic
Herbert von Karajan, conductor

Macbeth (1847 version) – “ Vegliammo invan due notti - “Un lume recasi in man?”
Iano Tamar (Lady Macbeth), soprano
Sonia Lee (Dama), mezzo-soprano
Han-Gweong Jang (Medico), bass
Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia
Bratislava Chamber Choir
Marco Guidarini, conductor

La battaglia di legnano – “Giuriam d’Italia”
Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia
Carlo Rizzi, conductor

La Forza del Destino – “Hola” (Ballabile)
Orchestra Del Teatro Alla Scala Di Milan
Coro Del Teatro Alla Scala Di Milano
Riccardo Muti, conductor

Producer: Sam Phillips