IDAGIO | Verdi: I vespri siciliani - Le quattro stagioni - The complete Ballet Music 4035719008838

Featuring

Ivan Repušić
Münchner Rundfunkorchester
Giuseppe Verdi

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Composition History

The Paris Opéra had a strict convention requiring an extensive dance interlude, or divertissement, in the third act of a grand opéra.

Historical Context

In 19th-century Italian operas, ballets were typically separate works performed between acts or after the opera, with little connection to the main work.

Composer Biography

Verdi composed the most opera ballets for the Paris Opéra, creating seven divertissements between 1847 and 1894.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Italian opera composers, including Verdi, often reluctantly submitted to the French preference for extensive dance interludes, finding it a difficult task.

Compositional Technique

Verdi's ballet music, with its catchy melodies, lively rhythms, and colorful orchestration, influenced later ballet composers like Léo Delibes and Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky.

Recording & Production

The Münchner Rundfunkorchester, founded in 1952, is known for its diverse programming, including opera, operetta, sacred music, film music, and crossover projects, and for bringing unjustly neglected works to light.

Performer Biography

Ivan Repušić, the Croatian conductor, is the chief conductor of the Münchner Rundfunkorchester and has held positions at the Croatian National Theatre in Split and the Staatsoper Hannover.