Nabucco, Royal Opera House: Opera review
WHEN the current Royal Opera House production of Verdi's Nabucco opened on March 30, the title role was taken by the marvellous 70-year-old Italian baritone Leo Nucci, who started slowly but was magnificent as the shambling aged Babylonian King (better known to us as Nebuchadnezzar) being punished by God for his vicious persecution of the Hebrews.
For the last four performances (April 15, 20, 23 and 26), the role is being taken by an even greater and older king of the operatic stage, Placido Domingo and it will be fascinating to see what he can do to raise the excitement of a production that in general does few favours to its excellent cast of singers.
The story of Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel is that of a king who conquers Jerusalem but is driven mad by God for his pride and lives like an animal for seven years.
After that time his sanity is restored and he honours God. In the opera, the story is embellished by the inclusion of two great soprano parts for Nabucco's daughter Fenena and the woman who may or may not be his daughter, Abigaille.
The good daughter Fenena is sung very effectively by Italian mezzo-soprano Marianna Pizzolato, while her morally ugly sister is magnificently performed by Ukrainian soprano Liudmila Monastyrska, with a voice of such power that any enemy would shudder before it.
With such ingredients, together with Verdi's magnificent music powerfully played by the Royal Opera House Orchestra under Nicola Luisotti, this should be a recipe for a great operatic experience, but it is all let down by a surprisingly ineffective new production from director Daniele Abbado.
Biblical epics are usually an excuse for colourful cloaks and swirling costumes, but Abbado goes to the opposite extreme dressing most of the cast in incongruous and anachronistic grey suits.
The temple that Nabucco's troops destroy seems to be built of giant tombstones, making it look more like a graveyard, and various action sequences are projected on film onto the back wall of the stage, where they dwarf the action on stage and distract from the singers.
The intention, I suppose, is to emphasize the similarity between Nebuchadnezzar's persecution of the Hebrews and the more recent Holocaust, which is certainly effective when we come to the opera's most famous part, the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, but having the entire cast in grey suits throughout just to make this point is overdoing it.
Also there are long periods during which the large chorus have very little to do and seem to be just standing around waiting for something to happen, which makes their grey suits look even more out of place.
It will; be interesting to see what life Placido Domingo can breathe into this all-too-rigid production, but even for him it will be quite a challenge.
Tickets: www.roh.org.uk or 020 7304 4000
Rating: 3/5
