Nabucco

This production was filmed at the San Carlo opera house in Naples. I have not seen anything from San Carlo before and I was impressed the spectacular sets and costumes. This is opera on a grand scale, which perhaps explains why it is not often performed despite its being packed with hummable tunes. It was Verdi's first commercial success in 1842. The plight of the Hebrew slaves under the Babylonian yoke obviously struck a chord for Italians dominated at that time by Austria.

The style of the music, although recognisably Verdian, is much closer to bel canto than his later works. The real star of the show is Abigaille, Nabucco's evil daughter, in a dazzling coloratura role. Abigaille is really the only villain in this opera and, as such, she has the most interesting and complex character. Sylvie Valayre handles the part brilliantly both musically and dramatically. Renato Brusson is an expressive Nabucco, often sounding like Germont in La Traviata, a role that he knows well. Nazzareno Antinori is a rather superannuated Ismaele and Gloria Scalchi as the good daughter, Fenena, is fragrant but anodyne. There are two good bass parts for Ferruccio Furlanetto and Carlo Striuli as Zaccaria and the High Priest respectively. Of course the chorus of Hebrew slaves have the best-known number and the conductor Daniel Oren drives the whole thing along powerfully.

The sound quality, in the version I heard, was distorted in places. I got the impression that the microphones were slung across the auditorium since extraneous noises from the audience are often clearer than the performers on stage. Also, you may need to brush up your Italian since there do not appear to be any subtitles. Apart from these quibbles this is a very enjoyable performance of an opera that deserves more exposure.

While some may find the story obsolete at first, I did admittedly, the music is so good, that I consider Nabucco Verdi's first masterpiece. The brilliant 1985 production is the best Nabucco I've seen, but this Nabucco is very solid. The music is wonderful, and while the sound is distorted and rather low at times, production-values wise the production is well above average.

Musically, this production is close to faultless. Va Pansiero had me in tears of sadness and hope, and Dio Di Guida is both moving and stirring. The chorus are very musical and balanced and pitched very well, the orchestra are assured and the conducting brings out the complexity and beauty of the score more than adequately.

Renato Bruson is brilliant as Nabucco, in one of his best roles. He is an outstanding singing-actor, and sings with his usual richness. Ferrucio Furlanetto is a noble Zaccaria, while Sylvie Valayre in the fiendishly difficult role of Abaigaille is dramatically and vocally powerful. Nazzareno Antinori is good as Ismaele vocally, but stolid sometimes in his acting.

All in all, a solid production. 8/10 Bethany Cox