Verdi’s I Due Foscari

Verdi’s early opera, based on Byron’s drama The Two Foscari, provides a spectacular ‘romantic’ opera experience. It is set in the mid-1450s, when Francesco Foscari, the decrepit Doge of Venice, is caught up in a feud with a rival family, and must choose between the interests of his foolish son Jacopo and those of the State of which he is the official Head. But, being a citizen is more important than being a father. Jacopo, weak with the consequences of torture, is so disappointed with his sentence to be banished (yet not beheaded), that he dies. The Doge is asked to resign. Appropriately, he too falls dead… of grief.

Verdi and his librettist spiced up this gloomy, undramatic story, located above, in magnificent Venice; but below, against the horror of the torture chamber and a subsea dungeon haunted with ghosts.

The opera features Verdi’s experimentation with reminiscence themes ─ a specific musical label being associated with a particular person, thing or emotion, such as Jacopo’s forceful wife Lucrezia. Wagner developed this concept, but Verdi did not take it much further.

We can enjoy Verdi’s music, his virtuoso solos, the love music, and the big choruses with the soloists soaring above.

Short Guides to Great Operas written by Michael Steen, author of the acclaimed The Lives and Times of the Great Composers, are concise, entertaining, and easy-to-read books about opera. They are packed with useful information and informed opinion, helping to make you a truly knowledgeable opera-goer, and so maximising your enjoyment of a great musical experience.

Each at around the price you pay for a standard opera-house programme, and available from all popular ebook retailers and ereaders, they are the perfect accompaniment to a night at an opera – whether that’s at home, or at the opera house, or in the cinema for opera on screen, such as ROH Live, Met Opera HD Live, or Glyndebourne Festival in cinemas.