Outrageous fortune: stellar opening for Forza at Covent Garden

By Mark Pullinger, 22 March 2019

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“It really is a special partnership... their voices blend like coffee and cream”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 21 March 2019

Verdi, La forza del destino

The Royal Opera

Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor

Christof Loy, Director

Christian Schmidt, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Anna Netrebko, Leonora

Ludovic Tézier, Don Carlo

Jonas Kaufmann, Don Alvaro

Ferruccio Furlanetto, Padre Guardiano

Veronica Simeoni, Preziosilla

Robert Lloyd, Marquis of Calatrava

Alessandro Corbelli, Fra Melitone

Carlo Bosi, Trabuco

Roberta Alexander, Curra

Michael Mofidian, Alcade

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

Otto Pichler, Choreography

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

Outrageous fortune: stellar opening night for La forza del destino at Covent Garden