Nabucco

Dramma lirico in four parts | Text by Temistocle Solera | In Italian with German surtitles

Duration: 2 1/2 hours | One intermission | Ages 15 and up

Verdi's breakthrough as an opera composer came in 1842 with "Nabucco". He portrayed great emotions such as love, jealousy, hatred and madness in this work with impressive precision and thrilling musical power. The capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar (Nabucco) sets in motion a chain of precipitating events. The high priest Zaccharia encourages the Hebrew people to continue hoping for salvation, as he is holding Nabucco's daughter and heir to the throne Fenena hostage. Fenena, however, loves the Hebrew Ismaele. Abigaille, Nabucco's other daughter, is also in love with Ismaele and lays claim to the throne. When she learns that she is in fact the daughter of a slave, she snatches the crown from the confused Nabucco and rises to become ruler of the Babylonians. She wants to have Fenena and the captured Hebrews killed. In extreme distress, Nabucco begs the God of the Hebrews for help ...
The chorus "Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate", one of the most popular musical numbers in the history of opera, stands for the liberation of an oppressed people and is still something like the second national anthem of the Italians. It is just one of the opera's many emotional highlights.