Nabucco Premieres

In Milan in 1842, a chorus of Hebrew slaves made Verdi's name and gave Italian opera a collective voice.

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Time and place

9 March 1842, Milan, at La Scala. Verdi's third opera, Nabucco, had a libretto by Temistocle Solera after the Bible and a French play. His comedy Un giorno di regno had just failed, his wife and two children had died, and he was close to giving up opera.

What happened

Nabucco put the conflict between the Babylonian king and the Hebrews on stage. The chorus was no longer background but the collective voice of a captive people. In Act III, Va, pensiero sets exile and homesickness in one long tune, sung in four parts over a simple accompaniment, easy to join. At the premiere the audience demanded it again, and the performers had to repeat it. Verdi's music still centres on the voice, but the chorus is pushed to the front.

What changed

The opera made Verdi famous and placed him at the centre of Italian opera. The chorus gained independent political weight; the movement for Italian unification later treated this number as a symbol, though Verdi himself kept his distance from political labels. Drama driven by vocal melody, with collective scenes carrying the narrative, shaped the Italian tradition that followed.

Listen to the turn

Begin with the slave chorus, which barely leaps and sounds like a song everyone already knows. Then hear the chorus in Il trovatore, where a soloist steps out of the crowd. Finally listen to Rigoletto, where the orchestra drops behind and one voice carries the drama. Three pieces trace a line from the collective to the individual.

Related

This turn belongs to Romantic; see Opera and Aria, and Voice.

Sources

• Grove Music Online, entry "Nabucco" — premiere and encore checked, not quoted
• Roger Parker, Leonora's Last Act (Princeton University Press) — Risorgimento reception checked, not quoted

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.