Dramma lirico in four acts (concertante performance) by Giuseppe Verdi
Wednesday, 14 July 2021, 7:00 pm
Ljubljana, Cankarjev dom
Giuseppe Verdi
I Lombardi alla prima crociata
Tamara Wilson, Soprano
Réka Kristóf, Soprano
René Barbera, Tenor
Galeano Salas, Tenor
Miklós Sebestyén, Bass-Baritone
Bavarian Radio Chorus
Munich Radio Orchestra
Ivan Repušić, Direction
Verdi struck his contemporaries right in the heart with patriotic operas like Nabucco. Oppressed by foreign rulers, particularly the Habsburgs, Italians longed for the unification and independence of their native land. They also found reason to identify with the opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata (The Lombards on the First Crusade). Today’s listeners still thrill at the way that Verdi moulds a murderer’s penitence and the fate of a congregation into a unified whole with gripping solos and choruses.
After Luisa Miller, I due Foscari and Attila, principal conductor Ivan Repušić continues his cycle of rarely heard early Verdi operas with I Lombardi alla prima crociata. Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, who already drew a convincing portrait of the Hun chieftain Attila, takes on the central role of the patricide Pagano. International stars Tamara Wilson and René Barbera round off the ensemble as a pair of lovers who overcome the barriers of religion.
For further information on the guest concert of the Munich Radio Orchestra click here.