Interstellar Galactomic Nabucco

The 2025 production of Verdi’s Nabucco recorded in the Arena di Verona is nothing if not spectacular; visually and vocally. One might ask though if it’s anything other than spectacular. Stefano Poda, who was responsible for designs and direction, makes some pretty bold claims in his Notes; “a symbolically charged reflection on power, spirituality and human identity”, “contrasting dualities: Babylonians and Hebrews, rationality and spirituality, progress and faith”, “the possibility of inner transformation and human reconciliation”. That’s a lot of freight for Nabucco to carry and I’m not sure it does but the visuals are certainly spectacular.

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Nabucco a la Visconti

I guess Verdi’s Nabucco is even more closely associated with the Risorgimento than his other works so it’s not perhaps surprising that, for his 2017 production for Verona, Arnaud Bernard made the connection explicit.  We are in Milan during the Five Days.  La Scala; which does duty as the Temple, the Hanging Gardens and itself, stands in the middle of the huge performance space of the Arena di Verona.  Italian and Austrian soldiers, including cavalry, ride around the arena or clamber over the terraces.  It’s wild and spectacular but it’s more than that.

1.lascala

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