The Verdi Project: Nabucco

By the waters of Babylon, Verdi's legend begins.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Historic bas-relief of the Babylonian king Nebachudnezzar, hero of Verdi's third opera Nabucco.

Nabucco put Giuseppe Verdi on the map. The composer's third opera premiered in Milan in 1842. It was an absolute smash. Its success would not only alter Verdi's fortunes, but the popularity of its message and its famous chorus "Va, pensiero" may claim some credit for reshaping the political map of Italy. It was Verdi's music and the eventual rallying cry "Viva Verdi" (code for "Vittorio Emmanuel, Re d'Italia") that would help propel that collection of nation-states toward revolution and eventual political unity.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Nabucco

Plácido Domingo is the king of Babylon in Verdi's hokey but effective Old Testament opera.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Plácido Domingo (seen here as Oreste in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride.) sings the title role in Verdi's Nabucco. 
Photo by Ken Howard © 2015 The Metropolitan Opera

Verdi's early opera is an Old Testament epic with a towering title role and a chorus that you will never forget. For this revival, Placído Domingo steps into the gold boots of Nebuchednezzar, king of Babylon, captor of Jews and finally, convert to the faith.

The Year in Reviews: Opera 2013

Superconductor recalls the best opera performances of 2013.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

A bird in a gilded cage: Christine Goerke in Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Met.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2013 The Metropolitan Opera.

As the year is ending we are finally getting to our end-of-2013 wrapup. This was supposed be to be a Top Ten list but I think it's going to be a lucky thirteen--it was a pretty good year for opera!

Here are the best opera performances (and operas in concert) that I saw this year in chronological order. All links lead to the full reviews.

Happy Birthday, Maestro Verdi!

The composer turns 200.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

It's not every day a composer turns 200.

Today marks the 200th birthday of Giuseppe Verdi, whose long career and vast output make him the dean among Italian opera composers. So what are we celebrating here, apart from a number?

Verdi's body of work continues to have depth and resonance for the contemporary listener, who can choose from the composer's different career phases. Let's start with the vocal virtuosity and patriotic fervor of his early period, featuring oom-pa-pa rhythms and rousing choruses, music that shaped the conscience of a nation. It was his third opera Nabucco that caught the public's imagination, as the chorus Va, pensiero became an unofficial anthem of the Risorgimento movement that gripped Italy during Verdi's lifetime.

Opera Review: Breaking the Chains

Nabucco comes to Opera Philadelphia.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Power struggle: Abagaille (Csilla Boross) confronts Nabucco (Sebastian Catana)
in Act I of Verdi's Nabucco. Photo by Kelly & Massa Photography © 2013 Opera Philadelphia.

Since its premiere at La Scala in 1842, Verdi's third opera Nabucco has been weighed down by its most famous number: the Act III chorus "Va pensiero" sung by the imprisoned Hebrew slaves as they endure the Babylonian Captivity. The chorus, itself a rallying cry of the Italian risorgimento movement in 19th century Italy tends to outshine the actual opera--and its political and historical importance can outweigh the effectiveness of the opera itself.

Thaddeus Strassberger's handsome production, which bowed Friday night at the Academy of Music is the season opener for Opera Philadelphia--as well as that company's first Nabucco. A co-presentation with Washington National Opera and Minnesota Opera, the show solves the "Pensiero problem" by embracing the opera's off-stage history and influence. Mr. Strassberger moves the action of the piece to 1842. At stage right, two boxes of Austrian aristocrats take in what is presumably the work's premiere. Guarded by five rifle-toting soldiers, these opera-goers check their librettos, sip champagne, and act bemused at the Biblical blood-and-thunder playing out upon the stage.

Recordings Review: And the Chorus Shall Lead Them

The Superconductor Verdi series rolls on with Nabucco.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Detail from the Ishtar Gate © 2013 The Pergamon Museum.

Like the weight and splendor of King Nebachudnezzar's massive Ishtar Gate (that guarded the entrance to Bablyon before winding up at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin) there's nothing subtle about Nabucco.

Verdi's third opera (and first smash hit) is a blood-and-thunder retelling of the Bablyonian captivity of the Old Testament. It opens with the sack of Jerusalem and the triumphat entrance of the Babylonian conqueror Nebachudnezzar. From there, the plot boils up a story of Nabucco's spiritual struggles with guilt as well as his fight for the throne with his psychotic daughter Abagaille. This is another Verdi collaboration with Temostocle Solera, who based the story on a French play and the events recounted in the Book of Daniel. This was Verdi's third opera to premiere at La Scala.

Opera Review: A Long While in Babylon

Nabucco bows at the Metropolitan Opera.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Over the top: Maria Guleghina as Abagaille in Verdi's Nabucco.
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2011 The Metropolitan Opera.

On Tuesday night, the Metropolitan Opera opened Nabucco, the company's first revival of the 2011-12 season. Verdi's version of the Old Testament story of the Babylonian captivity features the chorus as a central character, but the opera has plenty of room for star turns in its two leading roles.

Maria Guleghina will never be the most subtle singer, but she impressed in the difficult role of Abagaille. The daughter of Nabucco (Nebachudnezzar) seizes the throne when her father goes mad, threatening to exterminate the Jews captured in the Babylonian sack of Jerusalem. It is a thoroughly unsympathetic part, but Ms. Guleghina brought raw emotion and occasional beauty of tone to the role. Her best singing came in the quiet passages, like the Act II cavatina. She also brought her laser-like chest-voice to bear on her big confrontation with Nabucco in Act III.

Baritone Željko Lučić tackled the role of Nabucco. His rash act of declaring himself God (in the second act) leads to madness, despair, and ultimately, conversion to the Jewish faith. Mr. Lučić sang with a rich, dark-hued voice, handling the role's stentorian, early passages with power and delivering his best singing in the Act IV prison scene.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Nabucco

The Met revives its production of Verdi's first hit.

The Met's staging of Nabucco. Photo by Marty Sohl. © 2011 The Metropolitan Opera.

Italian audiences yearning to breathe free loved Verdi's opera chronicling the Jews' escape from Chaldea and the eventual conversion of King Nebachudnezzar (the titular "Nabucco.") Nabucco was Verdi's third opera, and his first success. Although the work is not as polished as later masterpieces from the composer of Aida and Rigoletto, it crackles with raw energy and enthusiasm.

The fame of Nabucco rests largely on the back of the famous chorus "Va, pensiero", which became the unofficial theme of the Risorgimento, the movement to unify the Italian peninsula in the 19th century. It still serves as a sort of second Italian national anthem, and was recently sung at La Scala as a protest against government cuts to the arts. Here, Željko Lucic sings the title role in a revival of Elijah Moshinsky's production.
Nabucco opens on Sept. 27.

Recordings Recommendations:
Vienna State Opera Orchestra cond. Lamberto Gardelli (London, 1965)
Nabucco: Tito Gobbi
Abagaille: Elena Souliotis
Zaccaria: Carlo Cava

Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin cond. Giuseppe Sinopoli (DG, 1984)
Nabucco: Piero Capuccili
Abagaille: Ghena Dimitrova
Zaccaria: Evgeny Nesterenko

Philharmonia Orchestra cond. Riccardo Muti (EMI, 1986)
Nabucco: Mateo Managuerra
Abagaille: Renata Scotto
Zaccaria: Nicolai Ghauriov

There are three studio recordings of Nabucco. The first is in crisp Decca sound from the 1960s, with Tito Gobbi in the title role, a good supporting cast and a reliable Verdian in Lamberto Gardelli.

The Berlin recording features the great baritone Piero Capuccili in the lead. Sinopoli's sometimes unpredictable approach to the music is always entertaining. The tiny tenor part features an in-his-prime Placìdo Domingo.

Finally, Riccardo Muti conducts a great "Va, pensiero." for EMI. The drawbacks: a lesser Nabucco in Mateo Managuerra and a weak pair of ladies, with a faded Renata Scotto and the odd casting of Elena Obraztova as Fenena.
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