The Comeback

Available for 28 days

Having vowed never to compose again, Verdi seems destined to disappear from musical history. Instead, an unexpected encounter with the libretto for Nabucco rekindles his creative spark. Kate Molleson traces one of music's great comebacks, from personal despair to sensational success at La Scala. As Verdi embraces ever more daring subjects, clashes with censors and challenges operatic convention, a powerful new voice emerges in Italian music. Attila: Prelude Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Herbert von Karajan, conductor Un giorno di regno: "Pietoso al lungo pianto" Juan Diego Flórez, tenor Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi Carlo Rizzi, conductor Nabucco: Sinfonia and "Gli arredi festivi" Ambrosian Opera Chorus Philharmonia Orchestra Riccardo Muti, conductor Ernani: Act I scenes Sylvia Sass, soprano Hungarian State Opera Chorus and Orchestra Lamberto Gardelli, conductor Macbeth: Prelude and Act I scenes London Philharmonic Orchestra Ambrosian Singers Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone Nicolai Ghiaurov, bass Lamberto Gardelli, conductor Produced by Ellie Ajao for BBC Audio Wales