I due foscari

Giuseppe Verdi was just 31 years old when his sixth opera "I due Foscari" was given its world premiere in Rome. He was then still at the beginning of his career, which later led to his fame as Italy's leading opera composer, and he wrote his stage works at a brisk pace: in March 1844 "Ernani" was premiered in Venice, in November came the "Due Foscari" in Rome. "Verdi is now the man of the day in the musical world," write Heinrich Heine after the world premiere. The literary source of the opera is a drama from the history of Venice by the English poet Lord Byron (1788-1824), whose works inspired many musicians, above all in the 19th century. His "Two Foscari" is not particularly effective on the stage, but Verdi took precisely this lack of theatricalness as an occasion to bring to the stage the interpersonal conflicts through a psychological characterization of the singers. He wrote enchantingly impressive music for this opera, which never ranked among the great successes of the master; from the very beginning, it vegetated on the outskirts of the repertoire as a special insider tip among connoisseurs. "I due Foscari" was recorded in 1988 at Milan's La Scala with Renato Bruson, Alberto Cupido and Linda Roard-Strummer in the lead roles; stage director was Pier Luigi Pizzi, the musical direction was in the hands of Gianandrea Gavazzeni, who was an outstanding personality in Italian music life of the20th century as conductor and music author.