Renata Tebaldi sang La Forza del destino at Teatro Comunale di Firenze in MaggioMusicale Fiorentino the first time in 1953.
Three years later she sang at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino La Forza del destino again.This tape , on june 8, 1956.
I can't say what Tebaldi/Forza I like more, I love all them ('55 Scala, , this '56 Firenze '58 Naples, '60 New York) but between her two Firenze Forzas (1953 and 1956) I think she is better on the '56 (the one I uploaded) .The voice is heavier in 1956, more dramatic .
The wonderful lyrical tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano sings Don Alvaro, a role not very well suited for his voice (he is a big lyrical, his voice was big but he was a lyrical tenor), however he is very good and I think this Forza is a major Verdian performance, headed by Renata Tebaldi, the greatest Leonora of the XX century.
Leonora................................. ...................Renata Tebaldi
Don Alvaro.................................. .............Giuseppe Di Stefano
Don Carlo................................... .............Giangiacomo Guelfi
Padre Guardiano............................... ....Giulio Neri
Conductor: Gabriele Santini
Teatro Comunale di Firenze-Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
June 8, 1956
