Don Alvaro [the Play of Duque de Rivas] & The Force of Destiny [the Opera of Giuseppe Verdi]

With the Romantic era being a high point for Spanish drama, Rivas's Don Alvaro was perhaps the most outstanding example. The play intermingles tragedy and comedy, where high-minded noblemen and country bumpkins pursue their destinies side by side. As often as not, tears and laughter are just a glance apart.

Based on the drama, Verdi's opera The Force of Destiny, though it diverges in major and minor ways from the play, follows the pattern set by the playwright. For this reason some have deemed it diffuse and episodic, whilst others have hailed it as Verdi's most Shakespearean opera.

In this book Paul and Judy Pinto offer a stageworthy English adaptation of the play, as well as a singable, yet readable, English version of the opera. Two swashbuckling stories in one. Alike, yet startlingly different, and both easily enjoyed from your own armchair.