Nabucco by Verdi

William Shookhoff, Music Director

September 19 & 21

True to its biblical inspiration, NABUCCO is an opera of unapologetically epic proportions: rulers challenge their gods, love struggles against empire, and religious revelation goes hand in hand with divine retribution. V

erdi’s inspired treatment of the Israelites’ enslavement and the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar’s dramatic conversion to Judaism captivated audiences, made the young composer famous, and gave voice to a simmering Italian nationalism that was soon to explode with incendiary force.

The opera’s most famous number, the chorus of the Hebrew slaves “Va, pensiero,” became the unofficial anthem of the Italian independence movement, and the score is filled with musical ideas showing Verdi’s ability to innovate operatic convention in the service of character development and psychological depth. Foreshadowing his mature works, Nabucco shows us the young composer as he is beginning to understand the full scope and power of his artistic vision.

Runtime: 2hrs 45 minutes with one intermission