Deutsche Oper Berlin

Nabucco

Opera

Bismarckstraße 35, 10627 Berlin

Giuseppe Verdi (1813 – 1901)

Vitalij Kowaljow as Zaccaria, Johan Reuter as Nabucco, chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Bernd Uhlig
© 2015 Bernd Uhlig
Chris and the fatsox
© Chris and the fatsox
Hulkar Sabirova as Anna
Bernd Uhlig
© 2013 Bernd Uhlig
Johan Reuter as Nabucco
Bernd Uhlig
© 2013 Bernd Uhlig
Vitalij Kowaljow as Zaccaria, Jana Kurucová as Fenena
Bernd Uhlig
© 2013 Bernd Uhlig
Jana Kurucová as Fenena, Yosep Kang as Ismaele
Bernd Uhlig
© 2013 Bernd Uhlig
Dalibor Jenis as Nabucco, Gideon Poppe as Abdallo et al.
Bettina Stöß
© 2015 Bettina Stöß
Anna Smirnova as Abigaille et al.
Bernd Uhlig
© 2013 Bernd Uhlig
Anna Smirnova as Abigaille et al.
Bernd Uhlig
© 2013 Bernd Uhlig
Johan Reuter as Nabucco, Anna Smirnova as Abigaille
Bernd Uhlig
© 2013 Bernd Uhlig
Scene impression
Bernd Uhlig
© 2013 Bernd Uhlig
Johan Reuter as Nabucco, Gideon Poppe as Abdallo
Bernd Uhlig
© 2013 Bernd Uhlig
Scene impression
Bernd Uhlig
© 2013 Bernd Uhlig
Dalibor Jenis as Nabucco
Bettina Stöß
© 2015 Bettina Stöß
Anna Smirnova as Abigaille, Johan Reuter as Nabucco
Bernd Uhlig
© 2013 Bernd Uhlig

Description

Keith Warner's production of Verdi's first successful opera emphasises the basic idea of reconciliation with which the work concludes: Under the wise King Nabucco, the Hebrew people of the Scriptures and the Babylonian warriors may hope for a peaceful future ... 

About the work
Giuseppe Verdi’s third opera was his break-out work. By the end of the gestation of NABUCCO the 29-year-old had found his musical style, one that audiences latched onto immediately. It was first and foremost the sheer impact of the chorus scenes and the daringly loud orchestral movements that announced a new chapter in the history of opera. NABUCCO was the first opera to make the chorus one of the main protagonists and the material was ideal for this, with the liberation of the Israelites from Babylonian captivity providing ample occasion for crowd scenes conveying the yearnings and stirrings of an oppressed people. And to top it all, it was not an aria but the “Va, pensiero” Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, sung by the Jewish deportees on the banks of the Euphrates, that became the best known number in the opera – and the most famous Verdi tune of all.

Aside from this NABUCCO reveals Verdi’s feel for situations that lend themselves to being staged and his predilection for eccentric characters. NABUCCO is namely not simply an opera with choral sections; it is also a drama about the disintegration of a family in the form of half-sisters Fenena and Abigaille, who are polar opposites, and their father Nabucco, the authoritarian patriarch [Engl.: Nebuchadnezzar]. On the one hand we have Fenena, who is in love with Ismaele, a Jewish prince, and has converted to Judaism. Meanwhile a jealous Abigaille is scheming to usurp the throne of her father. In a fit of megalomania, Nabucco declares himself an earthly king but also a god, upon which God strikes him down and he becomes crazed and incoherent. Abigaille seizes her chance, crowns herself queen with the support of the army and has her father arrested.

While in jail, Nabucco hears that Abigaille has resolved to have her sister Fenena executed. He regains his reason and beseeches the Jews’ own god to help him. Freed, he gathers his troops, rescues Ferena and sets the Israelites free.

About the production
This dramatic tale beginning with the Israelites’ captivity in Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar is one of Verdi’s most popular operas. Hans Neuenfels’s controversial production in 2000 was the last time that the work has been mounted at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In 2013, the bicentenary of Verdi’s birth, Keith Warner, a leading light in the international opera community, presented his version of the opera, referencing the period in which it was written, a time of transition from feudalism to an industrialised society. Warner focuses on the differences between the two nations: the Hebrews with their writing system and a culture of democratised education, and the militaristic Babylonians with their concept of power wielded by an autocratic ruler.

Cast

Paolo Arrivabeni
Conductor
Keith Warner
Director
Tilo Steffens
Stage design
Julia Müer
Costume design
Jeremy Bines
Chorus Master
Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Chorus
Juan Jesús Rodríguez
Nabucco
Amartuvshin Enkhbat
Nabucco
Jorge Puerta
Ismaele
Liang Li
Zaccaria
Ewa Płonka
Abigaille
Karis Tucker
Fenena
Martina Baroni
Fenena
Gerard Farreras
High priest of Baal
Jörg Schörner
Abdallo
Maria Motolygina
Anna
Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Orchestra

Dates

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Deutsche Oper Berlin

Bismarckstraße 35, 10627 Berlin

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