One-of-a-kind recording. This is the "Prova" or "Sitzprobe" of the San Francisco Opera run of La Forza del Destino that opened on November 4th, 1969. I'm sure that 99% of you know what this is , but for those that don't...the Prova is the first time that the singers, chorus, and orchestra run through the opera. The orchestra is in the pit here, singers sitting on stage and the chorus behind them. Maestro Patane stops often to talk to the singers and orchestra. He has some choice words for the struggling chorus. It ends after Leonora's "Maledizione."
San Francisco Opera (Prova)
October, 1969
Giuseppe Verdi
La Forza del Destino
Marchese di Calatrava: Ara Berberian
Leonora: Nancy Tatum
Curra: Sheila Nadler
Don Alvaro: Carlo Bergonzi
Alcade: Clifford Grant
Don Carlo: Ingvar Wixell
Trabuco: Howard Fried
Preziosilla: Sylvia Anderson
Fra Melitone: Renato Capecchi
Padre Guardiano: Giorgio Tozzi
Surgeon: Richard J. Clark
Conductor: Giuseppe Patanè
Chorus and orchestra of the San Francisco Opera
