Experience Verdi's magnificent opera in the open air.
This magnificent opera with its dramatic play about love and power has thrilled hundreds of thousands of spectators to date. Visitors are captivated from the very beginning by the beautiful voices, the plot, the magnificent costumes and the impressive stage design. With Giuseppe Verdi's NABUCCO, classical music fans can expect one of the greatest operas in music history and a wonderful open-air spectacle at the same time.
You have to experience NABUCCO with the world-famous prisoners' chorus at least once in the open air and in a magnificent production. The mighty chorus of prisoners will resound with an array of soloists with a powerful sound and multifaceted singing. Open-air productions are a special artistic challenge for any opera ensemble. Here, the performance and the ambience of the venue must be combined to create an unforgettable opera spectacle. Singers, orchestra, directors and technicians have to adapt to the atmospheric and acoustic conditions of each new venue. The opera has succeeded in doing this brilliantly in the previous summer open-air performances with over 2 million spectators.
Overview of the work: The opera is based on the libretto by the Italian Temistocle Solera (1816-1878). The plot is based on legends about the biblical ruler Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar II), king of Babylon from 605 to 562 BC. Buildings such as the Ishtar Gate, the Hanging Gardens and the Babylonian Tower are associated with his reign. The background to the opera's plot is the conquest of Jerusalem in 587 BC and the exile of the Jewish people into Babylonian captivity in 586 BC (2 Kings 25). The libretto takes only a few motifs from this. The plot consists of four acts.
Giuseppe Verdi - The person: Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was born on 10.10.1813 in Le Roncole near Parma. The son of an innkeeper, he came from a humble background. Nevertheless, his father showed understanding for his musical inclination and gave him to the village organist. At the age of twelve, he attracted the attention of Antonio Barezzi, a wealthy merchant from Busseto. He took him in and had him trained musically. He continued to support Verdi as he did not receive a scholarship from the conservatory. Verdi was therefore able to complete his studies with Paisiello's pupil Vincenzo Lavigna (1776-1836). Back in Busseto as "Maestro di Musica" in 1836, Verdi married Margherita Barezzi, the daughter of his patron. His career as an opera composer began in 1839 with Oberto, conte di San Bonifazio at La Scala in Milan. This was followed by the greatest crisis of his life to date. His two children and his wife died by 1840 and his second opera, Un giorno di regno, was a flop. Verdi despaired of himself and initially did not accept any more commissions from La Scala. It was not until 1842 that his next work, Nabucco, was published and immediately became a resounding triumph. Verdi, himself an ardent supporter of the "Risorgimento", the Italian unification movement, had struck a chord with the Italians. The famous prisoners' chorus, Va, pensiero, sull' ali dorate (Fly, thought, on golden wings), immediately became the secret national anthem. In the following eight years, Verdi created further patriotic operas such as I Lombardi, Ernani, I due Foscari and Macbeth , all of which were very successful. Verdi was now so wealthy that he was able to buy a country estate in Sant' Agata, his preferred place of residence from then on. Even at this time, his name was used by Italians as an acronym for the slogan "Vittorio Emanuele Re d'Italia", "Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy". Verdi had been living with the singer Giuseppina Strepponi since 1847, whom he married in 1859. Giuseppina had sung the role of Abigail in the overture to Nabucco in 1842. Verdi's second creative period began in 1851 with Rigoletto. He now produced his most popular works to date: Il Trovatore, La Traviata and I vespri siciliani . Verdi took a creative break in 1860/61, the years of Italian unification. He became a deputy for Busseto in the regional parliament of Parma, was received by the king and attended his coronation as Italy's first king. This was followed by another intense creative period in which such important works as La forza del destino and Don Carlo's Aida were created. However, after 1874 Verdi withdrew to his country estate for many years, disappointed by the social stagnation in Italy after unification. Only with Otello and Falstaff did he produce two very mature late works. When his wife Giuseppina died, Verdi's will to live was extinguished. Ill, he moved to Milan and died there on 27.01.1901 as a result of a stroke. Over 300,000 people from all over Europe attended his funeral. Arturo Toscanini conducted a choir of 900 singers with the famous chorus from Nabucco: Va, pensiero, sull' ali dorate. (1865)
