Organization

Stage director

Kuzman Popov

Conductor

Hristo Ignatov

Costume designer

Tsvetanka Petkova-Stoynova

Set designer

Boris Stoynov

Chorus master

Malina Hubcheva

Borislav Donev

State Opera Varna

Nabucco

Varna

Bulgaria

Opera Theatre

Nabucco Verdi

Public

Approved

The story of the creation and triumph of the opera Nabucco is one of the most exciting pages not only in the brilliant, almost seven decades of artistic career of Giuseppe Verdi, but in the life of the Italian nineteenth century in general. It has become an integral part of the mythology of Risorgimento - the spiritual quintessence of the Italian national liberation movement.

At the end of 1840, the 27-year-old Verdi was on the verge of ending his creative career. A few months earlier, he had briefly buried his two children and his wife, Margarita. What follows is the failure of the comic opera The Imaginary Stanislav, or King for a Day.

Here is what the Maestro shares in his Autobiography: " Tormented by the misfortune that befell me and saddened by the fiasco of my work, I was convinced that I could not find solace in my work and decided not to compose again ."

But Fate has decided otherwise! In the winter of 1941, Verdi met his old acquaintance Bartolomeo Merelli, an entrepreneur at La Scala. He offered the composer to write an opera based on the beautiful libretto of the young and talented poet Themistocles Soler.

Verdi reluctantly agrees to review the verses, but to write music and not speak. "I went home and threw the Nabucco manuscript on the table," says Verdi.
Falling, he opened his eyes and caught my eye: "A thought flies on golden wings." I read the verses and they deeply moved me. I read an excerpt, then another, but determined not to write any more, I closed my notebook and went to bed. the poem not once, not twice, but so much that in the morning I knew Solera's entire libretto by heart.

However, I had no intention of changing my mind and went to the theater to return the manuscript to Merelli. - It's nice! - he said.
            - Wonderful!
            "Then write the music."
            "I wouldn't think so," I said. "I just don't feel it."
            - Write the music I tell you. Write!
         Then Merelli took the libretto and tucked it in my coat pocket. He grabbed me by the shoulders and not only pushed me out of his office, but slammed the door under my nose and locked it. What to do? I returned home with Nabucco in my pocket. And so - today a stanza, tomorrow - another, little by little the opera was written.

In the autumn of 1841, Merelli received his completed opera. After some hesitation due to the financial difficulties of the theater, he decided to include "Nabucco" in the bill for the current season.

The rehearsals began at the end of February 1842, and only twelve days later, on March 9, the premiere took place, which became a real triumph for Verdi. The great performance of the famous singers - soprano Giusepina Streponi (Abigail) and baritone Giorgio Ronconi (Nabucco) also contributed to the success of the opera.

Donizetti was also present at the performance, who then exclaimed enthusiastically: "He is a real genius!". We read in the biographical essay about Verdi by Mekele Lesona about the kind of "nebulization" that engulfed Milan after the opera's premiere: "Tonight the city did not sleep, and the next day the new masterpiece was the main topic of all conversations. Verdi's name came from every mouth, and even designers and chefs used it to make hats alla Verdi, scarves alla Verdi, and sauces alla Verdi.

Indeed, since the time of Bellini's heroic Norma, staged at La Scala in the early 1930s, Milanese have not greeted any opera as enthusiastically as Nabucco.
The biblical legend of Solera's libretto about the suffering of the enslaved Jews and their struggle for liberation from Babylonian oppression was perceived by listeners as a parable of the Italian people's aspirations for national independence.
It is the actual sound of the plot that awakens the creative interest of Verdi, who as a person and a citizen is passionately committed to the cause of his people.

For the first time in his career, the Maestro discovers a theme that shakes him to the depths of his soul. An expression of his sympathy for the material is the fact that he critically accepts Soler's text, which is filled with the usual conventions and unjustified dramatic situations. Thus, one of the most impressive scenes in the opera - Zechariah's prophecy was created at the explicit insistence of Verdi and replaces the love duet of Fenena and Ishmael, which in the words of the composer "would reduce the biblical sublimity, representing the essence of this drama."

In "Nabucco" strong passions rage, involved in an extremely complex stage intrigue: passionate love and burning jealousy in the triangle Fenena-Ishmael-Abigail, intertwined with the aspirations of the insidious Abigail to the throne of his father; the drama in the divided minds of Nabucco, the tyrant and blasphemer, but also the loving father; just wrath against brethren who betray their own brethren. But in this opera, imbued with the atmosphere of the biblical epic and filled with a captivating pathos of freedom, the real hero is the Jewish people.
This explains the great importance that Verdi attaches to people - something atypical of Italian opera so far.

The backbone of "Nabucco" are the powerful, full of sacred solemnity extensive choral scenes. The emphasis on them is so strong that the importance of the connecting action is significantly reduced.
Apparently, in solving Verdi's creative task, the impressive layout of the influential almost static choral "panels" was more important to Verdi than the intensive dramatic development.

Apart from this type of choral scenes, which are especially bright at the beginning of the opera, there is another, completely new type of treatment of people in Nabucco. It can be defined as a "choral aria" and finds a synthesized expression in the famous "Choir of the Captive Jews" (III e.). Here, in the flow of a beautiful, smoothly unfolding song melody, the collective urge of the people for freedom is revealed. It is no coincidence that this choir has the greatest success among the audience. Called three times on stage during the premiere, in the following performances he sang from all over the hall and became a martial anthem of the Risorgimento.

Verdi himself cites Nabucco as a groundbreaking work on the path to creating an individual compositional style. Despite the perceptible influence of his predecessors, and especially Bellini, the characteristic features of an original author's handwriting can be seen here. This is felt most vividly when designing melodies. Their characteristic volume, combined with the emphatically authoritative rhythmics, create the passionately captivating character of the work, which affects the listeners extremely strongly.
In this regard, one of the most significant moments in the prabitua of Nabucco is the Prophecy of Zechariah (late third century AD), where after an impressive, chromatically colored description of the destroyed Babylon, a melody filled with incredible passion flashes.

Verdi's talent as a playwright is particularly pronounced in solo scenes. In the famous duet of Abigail and Nabucco, he first reaches a form that has grown entirely from the dramatic situation. Here, as in other similar moments in the score, Verdi reveals himself as a genius theatricalist, using the whole arsenal of means of expression for an adequate, psychologically nuanced characterization of his characters.

In Verdi's creative biography, the opera Nabucco became the most important step in the formation of his own compositional style.

In his subsequent works, the Maestro enriches and deepens this style, but in general it remains decisive for his overall work. It is significant that Verdi discovered his faith only when he opened his art to the great idea of ​​the Risorgimento - that ever-growing movement that left its mark on a significant part of his operatic work.

English

Nabucco by Verdi, From (1996/1996), Directed by Kuzman Popov,, Conductor Hristo Ignatov, Opera Theatre, Varna, Bulgaria

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Crew

Program, About & Synopsis

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues