Nabucco is not one of my favourite Verdis or one of my favourite operas overall, but has some great music and overall does deserve its reputation as Verdi's first masterpiece. This production I was mixed on really, it does have its good points but also some bad ones as well. It doesn't surpass the 1985 Bruson/Dimitrova production as the best Nabucco on DVD which is a tall order by any standard, but is an improvement on the Maestri/Burchuladze/Gruber performance.
What are the good points? The orchestral playing for one, delicate and powerful at all times, and never being too loud or quiet. Daniel Oren's conducting is highly impressive, very commanding with some intelligent musicianship and phrasing. His support for the singers was also commendable. The chorus are excellent, the singing is well balanced and they are not too static in their acting either. Va Pansiero is wonderful.
For my tastes, the performances are mostly good. Leo Nucci still meets the vocal demands very well, his voice can sound pushed sometimes but still strong and with good style. He has great charisma too and is very moving, which gives the Mad scene and duet with Guleghina their impact. Maria Guleghina, the best Abaigaille since Dimitrova by quite some distance, has some low notes that do sound forced, but the top is effortless and the singing overall is very assured and forceful. She exudes a commanding presence on stage also.
Nino Surguladze is a lovely Fenena. Her voice is a beautiful one, my personal favourite voice of the cast actually, and used with care and excellent use of artistry. She is a good actress also, especially in her Prayer which is very heartfelt. Carlo Colombara sings strongly and oozes nobility as Zaccaria, though the stage direction doesn't allow for him to be more than that. Fabio Sartori is less good as Ismaele, he has a good if not very interesting or colourful voice, but as with a lot of Ismaeles he is too stolid.
There are some big let downs however to this Nabucco. The ideas had potential to be good, but like with the books falling down from the shelves are not used very well and feels rather small-scale compared how the Arena Verona is a wide open space. The costumes didn't really appeal to me, lacking a firm sense of style and looking on the drab side. I also think they are more at home on a smaller stage. The lighting could have been more extensive, a lot of the time it was too much of one shade, and the sets just lack that grand splendour. The gigantic metal structure that dominates the surroundings I just didn't see the point of. Denis Krief's stage direction disappoints also, not just in some touches that underwhelm considering the story and the space but also in the poor directions of the characters and singers, the cast do manage to sing and use the stage very well but deserved more to work with. As with a lot of open spaces, the sound also has a tendency to sound tinny though not as problematic as other wide open space opera productions.
Overall, never really enthralled me but the cast and musical values make things watchable. 6/10 Bethany Cox
