Opera

LA FORZA DEL DESTINO

Giuseppe Verdi

180'

From 01/11/2025 to 01/07/2026

Description

Giuseppe Verdi’s La forza del destino is coming to GNO TV.

To mark its nomination for "Best New Production" at the 2025 International Opera Awards, the Greek National Opera offers for free on GNO TV its highly acclaimed production of The Force of Destiny, from 1 to 30 November 2025.

Just a few notes from the Overture of La forza del destino are all it takes to convey the mesmerising quality of Italian opera and reveal the grandeur of Giuseppe Verdi’s musical genius. The renowned composer’s masterpiece is full of melodious arias and duets while maintaining a wondrous balance between tragic and dramatic elements on the one hand and a comic flair on the other.
Conducted by the renowned Italian conductor Paolo Carignani. With the Orchestra and Chorus of the Greek National Opera.
Internationally acclaimed Greek opera director Rodula Gaitanou is responsible for the stage direction, George Souglides designed the sets and costumes, Dimitra Kastellou was in charge of the movement, Giuseppe di Iorio handled the lighting, and Dick Straker created the videos.

Cellia Costea, the remarkable soprano from the GNO, known for her successful career on the international stage, will perform as Leonora. Making his debut in the role of Don Carlo will be the Greek baritone of international fame Dimitri Platanias. Distinguished Argentinian tenor Marcelo Puente will portray Don Alvaro. The bass from the GNO Petros Magoulas will take on the roles of the Marquis of Calatrava and Padre Guardiano, Belarussian mezzo-soprano Oksana Volkova will perform as Preziosilla, and the bass from the GNO Yanni Yannissis will embody Fra Melitone. Accompanying them on stage will be Ioanna-Vasiliki Koraki, Georgios Papadimitriou, Yannis Kalyvas, and Maxim Klonovskiy.

The funding body of the project is the Ministry of Culture, within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0" with funding from the European Union - NextGeneration EU.

The recording of the production took place at Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera’s Alternative Stage at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on February 6 and 9, 2025.

Trailer

At a glance – Synopsis

The story begins with a lovestruck couple, Don Alvaro and Leonora. Leonora has decided to elope with him, although she is well aware that her father, the Marquis of Calatrava, strongly opposes their relationship. However, the plot takes an unexpected turn when Don Alvaro accidentally kills the Marquis. The two lovers are forced to separate, while Don Carlo, Leonora’s brother, swears to take revenge for his father’s death. Several years later, Carlo and Alvaro meet by chance. They are both unaware of each other’s true identity. After a line of earthshaking events, the two men fight each other in a duel, in which Alvaro delivers a fatal strike to Carlo. Leonora arrives to take care of her brother, yet he stabs her in the heart.

Creative team – Cast

Conductor: Paolo Carignani
Stage director: Rodula Gaitanou
Sets, costumes: George Souglides
Movement: Dimitra Kastellou
Lighting: Giuseppe di Iorio
Video: Dick Straker
Chorus master: Agathangelos Georgakatos

The Marquis of Calatrava:Petros Magoulas
Leonora:Cellia Costea
Don Carlo di Vargas:Dimitri Platanias
Don Alvaro:Marcelo Puente
Preziosilla:Oksana Volkova
Padre Guardiano:Petros Magoulas
Fra Melitone:Yanni Yannissis
Curra:Ioanna-Vasiliki Koraki
Mayor:Georgios Papadimitriou
Mastro Trabuco:Yannis Kalyvas
A surgeon:Maxim Klonovskiy

With the Orchestra and Chorus of the Greek National Opera

Director's note

“La forza del destino is a story about an original sin, which perpetuates and defines the actions and choices of the members of a dysfunctional family to the very end. It is also an exploration of the consequences of psychological traumas, obsessions, and the power of revenge. The story is set before, during, and after the end of a war. The desire to destroy the opponent, hostility, misanthropy, and the horrors that come with war, as well as the need to survive, draw parallels to one of the plot’s major lines: the hatred expressed by Don Carlo, who wants to take revenge for his father’s death. Therefore, the story can be read on two levels: inner turmoil is reflected in external chaos, increasing in both scale and intensity. The trajectory of the three main characters ultimately leads to a frantic pursuit of personal peace and redemption.”

Photos & videos

Photos

Reviews

One of the most compelling productions of Verdi’s La forza del destino

In Rodula Gaitanou’s new production, one of the most compelling I’ve seen of this challenging work, the overture was accompanied by black-and-white video (Dick Straker) showing clerics wrenching children away from a figure who turned out to be their maid, Curra. Gaitanou stressed the anti-war undercurrent; there was no spark of gaiety in the dancing (‘Siam felici, chè la guerra’) as Dimitra Kastellou’s choreography was dark and sinister. Ingenious movement turned the ‘Rataplan’ into a scene in which the war-wounded tore off their bandages with abandon. The choral singing throughout was exciting. Even Melitone (Yanni Yannissis), while supplying some comic foil, seemed to be a more serious character than is often allowed—a sort of proto-Falstaff, perhaps—and his remark about there being no hope for peace on earth, ‘Non isperi la terra alcuna pace’, certainly registered in these troubling times. Such a remarkably even cast is not to be taken for granted in La forza del destino, dogged as it has been by superstition but here bringing good fortune and full houses to GNO.