Verdi's "Nabucco"

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Image courtesy of Festival Castell Peralada

One of the most popular works by Giuseppe Verdi returns to the festival thanks to the Spanish Royal Theatre. This masterpiece with a splendid libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the Old Testament and Francis Cornue and Anicète Bourgeois’ Nebuchadnezzar, portrays ancient Babylon in all its splendor and tells the story of the Jewish slaves who, with the support of the priest Zaccaria, fought for their faith and freedom.

This opera in four acts first premiered in Milan’s La Scala theater in 1842 and was the first great success by the composer from Busseto, turning with time into an essential title for any major opera house’s repertoire. The work reveals a unique moment in the history of the genre with the choir of Hebrew slaves “Va pensiero,” a chant to freedom that at the time of its premiere the audience turned into a symbol of the Risorgimento in the face of the situation lived by the people of what would eventually become Italy, then ruled over by the Habsburg dynasty.

But the opera also presents us with the first great father, the first great female role and the first vocal approximation to the baritone, with a style and personality that would then go on to influence other characters such as Macbeth, Rigoletto and Falstaff. The concert version that will be hosted at Peralada with the Spanish Royal Theatre Choir and Orchestra and the direction of Nicola Luisotti will count with the voices of George Pétean (Nabucco), Anna Pirozzi (Abigaille) and Dmitry Belosselskiy (Zaccaria). Verdi walks us along the paths of these characters’ minds with an outstanding orchestral score that accompanies the story from the first act all the way to the its tragic end.

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