Viva Verdi!
Kate Molleson explores Verdi's uneasy relationship with fame, politics and posterity.
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
Jos茅 Carreras, tenor
Katia Ricciarelli, soprano
Matteo Manuguerra, baritone
ORF Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Lamberto Gardelli, conductor
Simon Boccanegra: Plebe! Patrizi!
Ludovic T茅zier, 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 麻豆社 Audio Wales
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- Fri 23 Oct 2026 16:00麻豆社 Radio 3
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