Muti directs Nabucco for Italy’s troubled 150th birthday

Rome –The Rome Opera House is climaxing celebrations of the 150 years of  the unification of Italyby staging a star-studded production of Nabucco, the Risorgimento opera par excellence by Giuseppe Verdi, with its famous chorus of “Go, thought, on golden wings,” directed by Riccardo Muti.

This is viewed by many opera buffs as the most important musical event in Italy for the 150th anniversary, a date that has been beset by controversy because of the reliance of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for support for the survival of his embattled government from the Northern League, a party that pours scorn on the Risorgimento and wants to break up Italy.

 The first night will be March 12 and the performance on the evening of March 17, the official date of the 150th anniversary celebration, will be part of Italy’s institutional festivities and by invitation only.

The direction will be by Muti and the scenes of the Nabucco are by Jean Paul Scarpitta, who conceived the dramatic structure of the new arrangement as a reflection on history, in which the Jewish Choir embodies the profound bond with the transcendent. The stage device is realised through the use of a few items on a backdrop inspired by the biblical illustrations of Gustave Doré.

In Nabucco, Verdi explores the drama of the Babylonian Jews and musically represents the values of the Italian Risorgimento. Oppressed homeland and national rescue are the fundamental issues behind this primarily choral masterpiece which reaches its crescendo with the famous “ Va’, pensiero”. This was the third opera written by Verdi yet it was his first popular success. It debuted on March 9, 1842, at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

In addition to the direction of Riccardo Muti and Scarpitta the production also relies on Maurizio Millenotti for costumes and Urs Schönebaum as lighting director. The direction of the Opera Choir has been entrusted to Roberto Gabbiani.

The cast includes Leo Nucci, alternating with Giovanni Meoni in the role of Nabucco, Antonio Poli that of Ishmael, while Zechariah is portrayed by Dmitry Beloselskiy and Riccardo Zanellato. In the role of Abigail alternate Viktoriia Chenska and Elisabete Matos while the role of a Fenena is performed by Anna Malavasi and Ezgi Kutlu. 

Nabucco will also become a messenger of the Unification of Italy with a tour to St. Petersburg, on March 27 at the Marijinskij Theater, again under the baton of Riccardo Muti.