As a member of the fall semester sequence, I joined Princeton’s Western Humanities (HUM) Sequence class trip to the opera “La Forza Del Destino” last Friday, the final performance of the 2023–2024 season.
The HUM sequence’s spring semester faculty featured music professor Simon Morrison GS ’97, who gave lectures on subjects from Medieval, Renaissance, and classical music styles. Before the opera, Morrison introduced “La Forza Del Destino,” analyzing the harmonic structure of different pieces and the timings of its “Fate” motif.
The first three notes of the ominous E unison foreshadowed an imminent tragedy. Leonora, the daughter of a powerful general, was played by Elena Stikhina, and her voice was as rich and full as her magenta gown in Act I. Her voice pierced even the last few rows of seats in soaring phases and well-controlled dynamics, which flitted from the passionate fortissimo for her runaway lover Alvaro, and the melancholy pianissimi for leaving her father behind. Even when she descended into rags and retreated into a hermitage, Stikhina’s technical prowess and endurance set up a steadfast performance up to her haunting last note in Act IV.
On the other hand, Leonora’s father, played by Soloman Howard, struggled to hit the lowest notes in the operatic repertoire, but the legato playing from the nine basses made up for it. Conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin, the pit orchestra complimented the singers mostly in sync, becoming the ebb and flow between the changing emotions in each scene. The accompanying harp arpeggios with Leonora’s appearances scored her dreamy illusions of escaping her fate, especially during her initiation rite in Act II when she vowed to spend the rest of her life in only God’s presence.
While Alvaro, played by Brian Jagde, did not make a strong impression in his opening duet with Leonora, he was the perfect pair with Carlo Bosi, the brother of Leonora who swore vengeance on the pair. During Act III, the two performed an electric execution of “No, d’un imene il vincolo,” their voices projecting and flowing in perfect tandem. The rotating stage was an appropriate addition to the barbed-wire military camp with the two standing on opposite sides of the fence, symbolizing their impending discovery of each other’s identities and the subsequent fallout. The stage moved throughout the whole opera; though Act I’s constant rotation between Leonora’s party and her personal room seemed initially excessive, it reflected the frantic clash of her identities as a daughter and lover.
The set changes between acts were swift, taking only minutes to transform from a well-lit Calatrava hotel, to a dark officers’ club, to a military camp, and to a broken-down subway station in the final act. Three video projections also suddenly appeared occasionally throughout the four-hour opera. During Leonora’s car crash in Act II, the audience endured a minute of a zoomed up, slow-motion video of a woman in a car as the screen rotated 180 degrees, which was confusing and did not add any special effects. In the next Act, colored fumes and helicopter projections were an abrupt wartime addition to the military camp. Another example was a close-up projection of Virgin Mary’s face floating over the screen during Leonora’s initiation, which was over-dramatic and distracted from the music and plotline.
It was admirable seeing the incorporation of new stage technologies with long-time operas, providing fresh interpretations and contexts for modern audiences. Still, I believe that the opera singing should always remain center stage.
Chloe Lau is a staff Prospect writer and a staff Features writer for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at chloelau[at]princeton.edu.
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