Based on a play by Lord Byron, ‘The Two Foscari’, Verdi’s early opera delves into the dark underside of picture-postcard views of tourist Venice – a world of vendettas, denunciations, wrongful arrests, torture and exile. The elderly Doge of Venice, Francesco Foscari, finds that he is powerless to defend his son Jacopo Foscari against the evil punishments falsely inflicted on him by their sworn enemy, Loredano, despite the passionate interventions of Jacopo’s wife Lucrezia.
Composed in 1844, Verdi’s opera builds on the earlier successes of Nabucco and Ernani. The 30-year-old composer is exploring new directions in dramatic structure, mood, characterisation and orchestral sonority, and even experimenting with ‘Leitmotif’ technique – a distinctive theme to depict each character in the drama – some years before Wagner. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Verdi’s rarely performed early masterpiece in all its brooding magnificence.
The conductor will be Matthew Kofi Waldren. The cast includes Andrei Kymach, Pablo Bemsch,
Anush Hovhannisyan and Emyr Wyn Jones.
There will be a pre-performance talk at 5.15pm in the hall free for ticket holders.
Tickets are now on sale at Cadogan Hall.