A Babylonian extravaganza: epic Nabucco in Verona

By James Imam, 20 July 2015

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Reviewed at Arena di Verona, Verona on 18 July 2015

Verdi, Nabucco

Riccardo Frizza, Conductor

Gianfranco de Bosio, Director

Rinaldo Olivieri, Set Designer

Dalibor Jenis, Nabucco

Susanna Branchini, Abigaille

Sanja Anastasia, Fenena

Dmitry Belosselskiy, Zaccaria

Piero Pretti, Ismaele

Arena di Verona Chorus

Arena di Verona Orchestra

Verdi’s version of the Opera Ball

Jonathan Sutherland, 12th January

Young Russian coloratura soprano Maria Nazarova gets the Oscar.

***11

Erwin Schrott makes his Budapest debut as Don Giovanni

Jonathan Sutherland, 4th December

Erwin Schrott seduces the Budapest audience with smiles, but Zerlina steals the show in Budapest.

***11

Bunt und prächtig, schicksalsträchtig: Un ballo in maschera in Wien

Snapdragon, 24th October

Bei Verdis frabenprächtigen Maskenball an der Wiener Staatsoper gibt es an diesem Abend einige hörbare Tücken.

***11

Richard Jones' clunky Samson et Dalila returns to Covent Garden

Dominic Lowe, 13th May

With Aigul Akhmetshina and Seokjong Baek in the title roles, there are reasons to be optimistic, but The Royal Opera's revival of Richard Jones' production is a mixed bag.

***11

Reality television: ENO’s Angel’s Bone in Manchester

Lawrence Dunn, 12th May

Kip Williams and ENO mount an extraordinary new production of Du Yun and Royce Vavrek’s multifaceted opera, with performances of great emotional directness broadcast live on camera.

*****

Sir Thomas Allen’s Figaro for Scottish Opera still entertains

David Smythe, 9th May

A traditional Marriage of Figaro entertains with a strong cast, eye-catching design and lighting, and Amanda Holden’s earthy libretto.

****1

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James Imam

James Imam is an arts journalist writing for publications including The Financial Times, The Times, Musical America and Opera magazine. He grew up in Manchester, read anthropology at Cambridge and has since lived in Milan. As a once-aspiring countertenor he has an abiding interest in Baroque music.

A Babylonian extravaganza: epic Nabucco at the Arena di Verona