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"N A B U C C O" A T
T E A T R O L I C E
U
It's another extraordinary opportunity
for us. A gift from Philip (we could never have afforded the
$175 Euro tickets). We had lovely seats in the first balcony.
Alberto was enthralled by the production, and as his mother
said, 'It's amazing to think that my son, the son of a poor
Mexican woman from a small pueblo in Mexico, would have a chance
to do these things we could never could even dream of.' And it
was true, there we sat among the creme de la creme of
Barcelona's society watching a fabulous production of Verdi's
Nabucco in the legendary baroque opera house on The Ramblas.
The part of Abigaille was played by
Russian Soprano, Maria Guleghina, and the opera was conducted by
legendary Italian conductor, Nello Santi.
The story of Nabucco: (from the
website of The Teatro Liceu)
Nabucco was written in Verdi's youth and premiered at La Scala
in Milan in 1842. Its resounding success launched the composer
on his long and brilliant operatic career and won him popularity
and affection in Italy. Though the score, which follows the
tradition of contemporary Romantic opera, is of unquestionable
quality, it also undoubtedly owed its triumph to another factor:
the patriotic feelings of the Italian people, oppressed by the
Austrian empire, who identified with the biblical tale of the
people of Israel under the heel of Babylon.
For Nabucco, despite its well
defined human conflicts, is not the drama of the leading figures
but rather a static choral fresco in which the greatest dramatic
and lyrical efficacy is achieved by the Hebrew people as a
whole. One obvious example is the very famous chorus 'Va
pensiero sull’ale dorate' in which Hebrew convicts on the
banks of the Euphrates sing of their homesickness for their
fatherland.
The main source for Temistocle Solera's libretto is the Bible,
which relates the invasion of the kingdom of Judea in 586 BC by
the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar II, the destruction of the
temple in Jerusalem, and the deportation of the defeated Hebrews
to Babylonia. The French play Nabuchodonosor by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois
and Francis Cornu (1836) provided the inspiration for the other
characters involved in the plot, such as Ismaele, the nephew of
Sedecia, the king of Jerusalem, or Abigaille and Fenena,
Nabucco's slave and daughter respectively.
One of the pivots of the action is the love of Ismaele for
Fenena, Nabucco's beloved daughter, now a prisoner of the
Hebrews. Fenena loves him in return, converts to the religion of
Jehovah and shares in the lot of the people of Israel. Another
is the malevolent, ambitious character of Abigaille, who is also
in love with Ismaele and soon discovers that she is not
Nabucco's elder daughter, as everyone believed, but a mere
slave, and that Fenena is the heiress to the throne. When
Nabucco, in a moment of madness and arrogance, declares himself
superior to his god Baal, Abigaille takes the opportunity to
seize the crown. She sentences the Hebrew prisoners to death,
Fenena among them, and has Nabucco cast into prison. But Nabucco
recovers his reason, is horrified at Abigaille's wickedness and
invokes the god of Judea, Jehovah, who restores his vigour and
strength so that he can save his daughter and recover the
throne. Abigaille takes poison, implores God's pardon, and
blesses Fenena and Ismaele before dying. (Whew)
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