5 reasons to see Nabucco

1. Verdi’s music is full of power and passion. 

Nabucco was Verdi’s breakthrough. After the failures of Oberto and Un giorno di regno, Verdi was completely devastated. He was even ready to give up composing altogether. When Merelli, the director of La Scala in Milan, handed him the libretto of Nabucco, Verdi completed the opera Nabuccodonozor within a year. For Verdi, this opera was a clear “yes” to life. After the dark years in which he lost his wife and his two children, he was able to find his way back to life through this composition. Perhaps it was precisely these dark years in Verdi’s life that enabled him to discover such musical richness in Nabucco. The work containsalmost everything one can expect from a great evening at the opera, from grand choral scenes to highly dramatic arias and the descent into Nabucco’s madness.

2. World-class soloists

It is no exaggeration to say that the young soprano Marigona Qerkezi is a rising star who is likely to join the very top ranks of the opera world within just a few years. Her return as Abigaille, one of the most demanding Verdi roles, has been greeted with storms of enthusiasm. The role of Nabucco will be shared by the Italian baritone Damiano Salerno and the American Brian Major, who has also appeared on the stage of the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera in New York. Added to this are the Finnish greats Petri Lindroos and Timo Riihonen, who both sing the role of Zaccaria, and the vocal feast is on. 

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