Nabucco by Verdi, Nuo (2024/2024), Režisierius Emma Dante, Dirigentas Bertrand de Billy, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin, Germany

It was his first major success, his breakthrough, so to speak: Nabucco, premiered at La Scala in Milan in the spring of 1842, marks the beginning of Giuseppe Verdi's brilliant career, which was to become the almost unrivaled leading Italian opera composer for several decades. Set in Jerusalem and Babylon in biblical times, the theme of Nabucco is the fate of two peoples and cultures, but also the arrogance of the titular protagonist, who, in his excessiveness, declares himself a god and then falls into madness. Tableaux of solemn gestures and haunting music – such as the famous “Va pensiero” choir of the captive Hebrews – stand alongside scenes of intense expression, filled with drama and passion. Emma Dante, renowned opera, drama and film director, is staging for the first time at the State Opera, while the proven Verdi expert Bertrand de Billy conducts the equally impressive and effective work.