Intro

Nabucco

Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901)

From 04/11/2005 in Ghent - from 16/11/2005 in Antwerp

• Musical direction: Paolo Carignani
• Nabucco: Bruno Caproni
• Abigaille: Paoletta Marrocu
• Zaccaria: Arutjun Kotchinian
• Ismaele: Marius Brenciu
• Fenena: Katharine Goeldner

According to Giuseppe Verdi, it was the opening lyrics of the legendary slave chorus – Va pensiero, sull’ ali dorate (Fly, thoughts, on wings of gold) – that convinced him to put the libretto by Temistocle Solera to music. The chorus went on to become the second national hymn of Italy, andNabucco turned the composer, who had met with relatively little success so far, into a hero. The opera became the leading symbol of the Risorgimento – the Italian movement for unification – and Verdi became an idol of the movement. Verdi’s grand fresco, which Flanders Opera is presenting as a concert performance, tells the story of the siege and capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar and the captivity of the Jewish people. Nabucco’s main theme, the national identity of peoples and its (alleged) religious and historical foundations, touches on issues that are as relevant as ever in this age of globalisation.

Team

• Musical direction
  Paolo Carignani
• Chorus master
  Kurt Bikkembergs
•  
• Nabucco
  Bruno Caproni
• Abigaille
  Paoletta Marrocu
• Zaccaria
  Arutjun Kotchinian
• Ismaele
  Marius Brenciu
• Fenena
  Katharine Goeldner
• Il gran Sacerdote di Belo
  Kurt Gysen
• Abdallo
  Eric Raes
• Anna
  Sabine Conzen
• Symfonisch Orkest van de Vlaamse Opera
• Koor van de Vlaamse Opera