The land of Italy is the birthplace of opera, and for 400 years, Italy has defined the form.

In the 19th century, Italian opera joined the Romantic movement. Composers like Jacino Rossini,

composer of the Barber of Seville and William Tell, Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donetsetti, and the great

Giuseppe Verdi defined the romantic opera, full of passion, mellow drama, gorgeous music,

and cruel twists of fate. One of Verdi's operas is entitled La Forza del Destino, the Force of Destiny.

It could be the title of many romantic operas.

It could apply to Italy itself, which began the 19th century as a shattered nation

and ended it against all odds as a world power.

But in opera, as in life,

there is seldom triumph without tragedy.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

The 20th century. The Episode 22, La Forza del Destino

The last time Italy was a United Kingdom

was the moment before Belisarius got off the boat

on his mission from the Emperor Justinian

to reconquer it for the Roman Empire.

Since the Renaissance, Italy, fractured into numerous small states, has become the boxing

ring of larger powers, the arena in which France and Austria tested their medal against

one another. One of these small states was the Duchy of Savoy,

which lay in what we would call northwestern Italy,

along the border with France.

In the 18th century, the Duke of Savoy acquired the title King of Sardinia,

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