1/ They say NABUCCO was Verdi's breakout work. It was certainly the work with which he elevated the baritone from lyric to dramatic and from co-star to star. Only this time we have a late-career tenor in the part, returning to his long-ago baritone Fach. ("Fach" is German for
https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1340431314625826817
2/ "operatic vocal category," and all the jokes have been made so don't even try.) The title character is of course Nebuchadnezzar, so to those who've just been watching A Charlie Brown Christmas: "Sort of makes you want to treat me with more respect, doesn't it!" But this is an
3/ extra-Biblical tale of how Nebbie, having conquered Jerusalem, proclaimed himself God - and got a mentally disorienting zap for it. But gradually he recovers his wits and, against the odds, defeats the machinations of his power-hungry step-daughter Abigaille, saves the lives
4/ of many Hebrews including his convert-daughter Fenena, resolves to serve the Hebrews' God, and is welcomed at the happy ending as King of Kings by the Hebrew High Priest. Before that denouement, we have the musical highlight of this show: the chorus of Hebrew exiles
5/ singing "Va pensiero" - "Go, thought, on golden wings...." - a Psalm-based lament for their lost homeland. (Now it can be told: during my 2 yrs in Phoenix, every new password I created was some variant of "Va pensiero." From day one.) You'll hear this chorus encored, which is
6/ good bc you'll want to hear it again. Levine was anti-encore, but he made this one exception, because it's so beautiful and the @MetOpera chorus is so great.
In mid-career Verdi was creating potentially voice-killing soprano leads. Lady Macbeth was one; Abigaille is
In mid-career Verdi was creating potentially voice-killing soprano leads. Lady Macbeth was one; Abigaille is
7/ another. Coming alongside (or at daggers drawn with) Placido Domingo as Nabucco, Liudmyla Monastyrska does Abigaille's heavy lifting and crazy-singing. With Zaccaria, the Hebrew priest, Verdi experimented with a bass role that cd be callled leading, and Dimitry Belosselskiy,
8/ one of @MetOpera's many Russian imports of the '90s and 'aughties, handles it well.
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