In a poetic and visionary setting already admired last year and directed, with sets and costumes by Stefano Poda, Nabucco is staged in the 103rd edition of the Arena di Verona Opera Festival.
The opera becomes a timeless journey from conflict to reconciliation, from pride to hope, between humanism and technology. A title always beloved at the Arena for its intrinsic and spectacular choral nature, in the new production Nabucco has already been described as “atomic”: large symbolic elements and innovative lighting designs combine on stage, serving the drama of Verdi that tells of a conflict not only between peoples but within each individual.
Nabucco, originally "Nabucodonosor," is a lyrical opera that illustrates the condition of slavery of the Jewish People in Babylonian land. The troubled love is the central theme of the opera: already from the first act, a double story of love and jealousy unfolds between the two daughters of the Babylonian king Nabucco, Fenena and Abigaile, and the Jew Ismaele.
In the background, the contrast between faith in the one god of the Jews and the pagan deity Bel. The god of the Jews first strikes Nabucco with a lightning bolt, then inspires the conversions of the king and his daughter Fenena. The opera ends with the victory of good over evil through the suicide of Abigaile, usurper of the Babel throne. Suggestive and moving is the chorus of the Jews who, on the banks of the Euphrates River, invokes their distant homeland to the notes of Va Pensiero.
Performances: June 26 at 9:15 p.m. - July 4, 12, 18, 23 at 9:15 p.m. - August 1, 8, 20, 28 at 9:00 p.m. - September 9 at 9:00 p.m.
