The online opera guide & synopsis on NABUCCO
Interesting facts and great YouTube Videos about Giuseppe Verdi’s NABUCCO. Highlights are «Io t’amava» with Placido Domingo, «Come notte al sol fugente» with Evgeny Nesterenko «Prode guerrier» with Elena Suliotis, « Tu sul labbro » with Cesare Siepi, « Anch’io dischiuso » with Maria Callas and « Il maledetto non ha fratelli «.
OVERVIEW & QUICK ACCESS
Content
♪ Synopsis
♪ Act I
♪ Act II
♪ Act III (Madness Scene, Prophecy)
♪ Act IV
Highlights
♪ Io t’amava (Terzetto)
♪ Ben io t’invenni…Anch’io dischiuso
♪ Va pensiero (choir of the hebrews)
ROLES & SYNOPSIS OF NABUCCO IN 4 MINUTES
NABUCCO ACT I
Verdi’s crisis
Verdi wrote the opera Nabucco at a difficult time in his life. «Before Verdi began writing Nabucco, he was a 27-year-old suicide candidate. Within a few months his little daughter, his little son and his beloved wife Margherita had died; a comic opera written under these circumstances was whistled out in Milan’s Scala. Verdi swore never to write a note again, but the impresario Bartolomeo Merelli stuffed a libretto into his coat pocket that Otto Nicolai had rejected. When he arrived at his hotel, Verdi threw the libretto on the table: «The booklet had opened and without knowing it, my eyes fell on the following verse: Va, pensiero, sull’ali dorate – fly, thought, on golden wings …» Merelli had promised Verdi the performance immediately after the score was finished. Verdi insisted on it, also because he wanted a certain singer as Abigail: Giuseppina Strepponi. The morning after the premiere, Verdi was famous, and Giuseppina entered his life.» (Mathias Husman)
Galley years
Nabucco marks the beginning of Verdi’s «galley years», in which he was continuously contractually obliged to complete operas on time. The term comes from Verdi’s 1858 letter: «Since Nabucco I have not had a quiet hour, so to speak. Sixteen years of galley work,» the composer wrote.
Unusual «noise»
Yes, you read correctly. Verdi wrote noisy music in Nabucco. Verdi’s Instrumentation of Nabuccos’s Music has something noisy and coarse about it. He loved the sharp accents, which he presented to the listener unrestrained and in a dramatic way in this work. Listen to the overture or, as another example, «Gli arredi festivi».
Synopsis: In this choral passage, the Hebrews pray to their God to protect them from the troops of Nabucco, who are at the gates of the town.
Ouverture – Muti
Gli arredi festivi – Muti
Conventions of the Belcanto Era: Cavatine and Caballetta – the form of the aria
Nabucco was written at a time when opera lovers were listening to the works of Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini. Many of the conventions of this so called Belcanto era still prevail in Nabucco. For example, the form «Scena ed aria», which very schematically prescribed sequence of arias. The sequence was: recitative (tempo d’attacco), slow aria (cavatina), recitative (tempo di mezzo), fast aria (cabaletta and perhaps Stretta at the end). The scene was accompanied by various performances which acted as keyword providers. Listen to Zaccaria’s (slow) cabaletta «Sperate o figli da egitto la sui lidi» with Boris Christoff.
Synopsis: Zaccaria admonishes the people to believe in the divine help because they possess Fenena, the daughter of the enemy king Nabucco, as hostage.
Sperate o figli da egitto la sui lidi – Christoff
And now the (fast) cabaletta «Come notte al sol fugente» sung thrillingly by Evgeny Nesterenko.
Synopsis: Zaccaria encourages the people to believe in divine help. Zaccharia calls on the Hebrew people to defend the country. The Hebrew people enthusiastically join in.
Come notte al sol fugente – Nesterenko/Abbado
Elena Suliotis
I would especially like to recommend the beautiful trio «Io t’amava» and «Prode guerrier».
Synopsis: In “Prode guerrier”, Abigail encounters Ismael, whom she knows from Babylon, meets him scornfully but then confesses his love in «Io t’amava».
Both are sung by Elena Suliotis. Suliotis was regarded in the sixties as «the next Callas» but ruined her voice at a young age with the wrong roles.
Prode guerrier…Io t’amava – Suliotis/Raimondi/Guelfi
Hear another great version of «Io t’amava» with Placido Domingo, that you should not miss.
Io t’amava (Terzetto) – Domingo/Dimitrova/Valenti
Nabucco’s choir scenes – more than «va pensiero»
Nabucco was Verdi’s first great success. The choral and mass scenes do not miss their effect on the listener. The choir played a subordinate role in the bel canto. And in this time Verdi composed an opera in which the choir has a presence like a leading actor. You will find three beautiful and catchy choir scenes: «Gli arredi festivi» (see above), «Sperate o figli da egitto la sui lidi» (see above) and finally «Viva Nabucco».
Synopsis: In this scene Nabucco arrives in front of the temple. Zaccharias confronts him and threatens to kill Fenena if he enters the temple.
Viva Nabucco – Muti
Finale of the first act
Synopsis: Zacharias threatens Fenena with a knife, but Ismail saves her. Nabucco appears and orders the punishment of the Hebrews.
Verdi concludes the act with a dramatic and captivating concertato by the quintet Fenena, Zacharia, Nabucco, Abigaille and Ismaele.
Mi furor no fui costretto – Muti
NABUCCO ACT II
The new Verdi
In the first part of the blog post on Nabucco, we talked about Verdi’s new style of music that was unusual for his contemporaries. The new music of Verdi in Nabucco has two constitutive characteristics: On the one hand there is the almost brutal and elemental power of the music, which sounds «like a Sans-culotte invading a living room» (Gori, Guida al Teatro d’opera
Abigaille – a highly dramatic role
Verdi’s music is demanding for the singers, sometimes extreme (Abigaille), aggressive and rhythmic in the orchestra, the mood is of ravishing swing. Verdi is a romantic composer and does not stand above his art like Rossini with classicistic restraint, but is a participant, a victim of the stories he sets to music.
Abigaille is the spurned lover. Verdi musically translates the embittered feelings of Abigaille, the merciless protagonist whose female features are barely perceptible – this makes this character fascinating. The demands on the soprano are very high with many very low and very high notes, contrasting melody lines with sometimes jumps of two octaves and the whole thing almost continuously with full voice, even in the recitatives, to intensify the hysteria of the figure. Listen to the recitative «Ben io t’invenni» (with a double octave jump at the end of the recitative) with Maria Callas and the cavatina «Anch’io dischiuso un giorno» and then the cabaletta «Salgo già».
Synopsis: In the first part of the excerpt («Ben io t’invenni») she directs her anger at Nabucco, who did not entrust her with the reign in Babylon during his military campaign, but Fenena, who also has the love of Radames. » In «Salgo già» she confirms her will to assume power and to ascend the throne.
There is a famous Nabucco 1952 live recording of an unleashed Maria Callas Jürgen Kesting on this: «The recitative…reveals for the first time Callas’ sense for the structure, the temporal structure and the pathos of musical speech; the Andante sings it with lyrical subtlety and refined hues… and then she plunges into the ascending coloratura chains of the cabaletta. She sings the ascending trills up to C”’ with a furioso that can cause fear and terror».
Ben io t’invenni…Anch’io dischiuso – Callas/Gui
As in the first part I recommend hearing this piece of the Abigaille wonderfully sung by Elena Suliotis.
Salgo gia – Suliotis
Zaccharia a great role for the bass
Synopsis: In the next aria Zaccharia prays that God may enlighten him that he may be able to convert Fenena to the Jewish faith.
Thes role of Zaccharia is very present throughout the opera and is the first and last character we hear. Verdi entrusts him with some very beautiful melodies (see also first blog about Nabucco), especially «Tu sul labbro del veggeni», which is beautifully (and unusually) accompanied by six cellos.
Tu sul labbro – Siepi
More great choir scenes of Verdi
As already mentioned in the first part, the choir plays an incredibly important part. Listen to two more pieces with choir participation.
Synopsis: In «Il maledetto non ha fratelli» and «S’appressan gl’instanti» the Hebrews insult Ismael as a traitor and demand a severe punishment for him.
Il maledetto non ha fratelli – Muti
S’appressan gl’instanti – Muti
The Verdi Baritone
And on the other hand, the absence of a tenor protagonist whose role is filled by Nabucco, a baritone. For the first time the Verdi baritone appears, a role that must unfold great dramatic power of presentation is characterized by high vocal flexibility for passages in higher registers. Nabucco does not have to play a tenor in love, but a father without a wife, commander of the army, opponent of Zacharias and he must fight against himself. For this baritone type Verdi will compose more often (Simon Boccanegra, Macbeth etc.).
Listen to two excerpts with the participation of Nabucco with Renato Bruson («Chi mi toglie» and further down in Act III «Donna chi sei»). Bruson was an important Verdi baritone of the seventies and eighties. He grew up in a poor peasant family, he lost his parents already as a child. He had to wait a long time for success, – «four long years the owner of a pension fed him through. He became famous through the Abbado recording of Don Carlos with Abbado.» (Kesting
The first excerpt is from the finale of the second part:
Synopsis: Nabucco announces to be the god of the people and a bolt of lightning tears the crown of his head. Abigail takes it. «In chi mi toglie il regio scettro» (Who will snatch my royal crown from me) he realizes that Abigail has taken power.
Chi mi toglie – Bruson
NABUCCO ACT III
Listen to another dramatic passage.
Synopsis: In «Eccelsa donna…Ove condur mi vuoi» we experience the performance of the mentally confused Nabucco in tattered clothes in front of his daughter. A dramatic encounter between father and daughter.
Eccelsa donna…Ove condur mi vuoi – Callas/Bechi
Synopsis: In «Donna, chi sei» Abigail urges her father to sign the death sentence for Fenena and the Hebrews.
Donna chi sei – Bruson/Bumbry
Synopsis: Nabucco recognizes his mistake and wants to expose Abigail as a slave, to deny her legitimation as Queen. In vain. It is the great hour of Abigail that she will not let be taken – even if that means the death sentence for her father.
Di qual onta aggravarsi – Callas
We already spoke in part one and part two about how Verdi had found a new style with «Nabucco». Another peculiarity of this opera is that the love couple consist of a tenor and a mezzo-soprano – consequently there is no extended duet between the two, the love story loses importance. On the other hand, the choir is more at the centre of the opera than any soloist. In contrast to the previous opera tradition, in «Nabucco» the mass scenes become an important bearer of the dramatic plot.
A famous recording with Maria Callas
In the first part of the blog about Nabucco I already talked about the 1952 recording with Callas Jürgen Kesting talking about this duo with Gino Bechi: «She goes even wilder in the duet in the third act. She is indeed acting like a wildcat. First the baritone sings a lamenting melody in F minor, to which Abigaille responds with a replica in D flat major. Then the voices join and end with a vehement stretch. For whatever reason: Bechi and Callas don’t sing together, but against each other – not a duet, but a duel. Although the baritone naturally possessed a powerful spatial voice and can strike a high a flat with blaring force, it is sung out by Callas: her high E flat ”pierces the room like a tracer of light and it is the burning intensity of the tone with which she overrides Bechi’s force of nature”.
Synopsis: In this scene Abigail is at the height of her power and Nabucco is her prisoner. Nabucco begs Abigail not to kill his daughter (Abigail’s sister). Listen to «Deh perdona» with Maria Callas and Gino Bechi.
Deh perdona – Callas/Bechi
Va pensiero – Verdi becomes suddenly famous
Synopsis: Meanwhile the Hebrews sing about their homeland and ask for God’s help.
This choir passage is perhaps the most famous song in opera history. Much has been written about Verdi’s political and spiritual role in the Italian pursuit of freedom in the nineteenth century. With this opera and the «va pensiero» he became the inspiring composer of the Risorgimento (the Italian freedom movement). Already at the premiere of Nabucco the listeners associated this anthem of the Hebrews with their resistance against the Austrian occupants. Verdi cultivated this myth extensively in his later years. This myth probably also includes the story that you could read in the first blog, that the text passage «Va pensiero sull’ali dorate» had already gripped him when he first read it. However, the emotional effect this anthem had on the movement is undeniable. Besides the wonderful melody, Verdi let the choir sing with one voice to give the passage its maximum effect.
Va pensiero – NN
Verdi and the Church
Zaccaria, the high priest of the Hebrews, plays an important role in Nabucco. Reason enough to address the theme of religion in Verdi’s life and operas: «Giuseppe Verdi and religion – that is a difficult chapter. The great opera composer did not have much left for the church. «Stay away from priests,» he once advised his cousin. For his funeral he forbade himself the presence of priests. His partner of many years and later wife Giuseppina Strepponi described his attitude with the words: «I wouldn’t exactly say: ‘atheist’, but certainly not a convinced believer. Nevertheless, Verdi practiced what Christians call charity. The composer also made a more than deserved name for himself as a benefactor. He supported needy workers and farmers, he financed education for children from poor families. He donated the «Casa di Riposo», an old people’s home for singers and musicians in Milan that still exists today; his grave is also in the house. Verdi also ran a hospital at his expense, where priests were only allowed access for valid reasons.» (Michael Krassnitzer, orf.at).
«Verdi found it downright scandalous that the Vatican rejected republican values such as freedom of thought and conscience or tolerance and opposed the Italian unification movement, the «Risorgimento» until the end, even refusing to become part of the newly founded Kingdom of Italy. In the end Verdi was left only to shake his head at Pope Pius IX as a «poor guy with little understanding» (Blog lucerne festival, Susanne Stähr).
Giuseppe Verdi has composed several great appearances for the priest in Nabucco. He shows the church as the (mis)leader of the people. There are many scenes with great power in which Zaccaria inspires his people which then enthusiastically sing along with their high priest.
Synopsis: In the scene «O chi piange del future nel buio discerno» Zaccaria prophesies the end of slavery and the destruction of Babylon, the mood changes into an almost ecstatic atmosphere.
A brilliant moment for a big bass, listen to Boris Christoff.
O chi piange del future nel buio discerno – Christoff
NABUCCO ACT IV
Nabucco’s Final Performance
Synopsis: In «Dio di guida» from the last act, Nabucco prays almost like a priest, he prays to the God of the Hebrews and promises to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
Dio di giuda – Bastiannini
Synopsis: In «Cadran, cadranno… O prodi miei», Warriors loyal to the king free Nabucco from his prison. With a clear mind again, he leads this group and conquers the crown back.
Cadran, cadranno… O prodi miei – Sinopoli
Synopsis: Fenena and the captured Jews are waiting to be executed. Fenena says goodbye to life.
Oh, dischiuse e il firmamento – Valenti-Terrani
Abigails Farewell
Synopsis: Abigaille recognizes her defeat and takes a poison. With moving words she asks your sister for forgiveness.
Su me… morente… esanime – Suliotis
My recording recommendation of the opera Nabucco
The recordings I’ve heard all seem very good to me. Surprisingly, there aren’t very many. I would probably choose between recording Solti (DECCA) or Sinopoli (DG).
Peter Lutz, opera-inside, the online opera guide on NABUCCO by Giuseppe Verdi
This post is also available in: German
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