I know I’m a bit late, but I’ll post a few excerpts from Verdi’s operas that depict some of his portrayal of fathers. No other composer, in fact no other artist, offered so many compelling examples of paternal love as did the “Bear of Busseto” – his wife’s appellation. Beneath his ursine exterior there was the well of all humanity.
I’ll start this series with the finale of Luisa Miller. This scene is remarkable as two fathers watch their children die. One (Miller) is a helpless victim of his daughter’s inconvenient love for a nobleman while the other (Count Walter) is brought down by his own intrigue. Luisa Miller was Verdi’s 15th opera. It is filled with some of the most glorious music he ever wrote. It’s third act is particularly inspired. The three principals in this 1979 excerpt are Renata Scotto, Placido Domingo, and Sherrill Milnes.
