![\"Roundtable](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/Nabucco-photo-by-Cory-Weaver.jpg\" "\\"Nabucco")
<\/a>\u201cThe Artists Roundtable\u201d allows singers, the director and the conductor to share their take on each character, the musical challenges and the overall context of the opera. At last week\u2019s discussion of \u201cNabucco,\u201d Verdi\u2019s first hit opera, participants touched on a variety of subjects, including how the opera and its famous Hebrew chorus, \u201cVa, Pensiero,\u201d became a hymn to Italian nationalism. The 55-minute impromptu chat was moderated by Nick Reveles, the company\u2019s personable and articulate education director.<\/p>\n
\u201cNabucco\u201d is the story of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, whose destruction of the Hebrew temple in Jerusalem spells impending doom for the Israelites. Ismaele, nephew of the Hebrew king, is put in charge of Fenena, Nabucco\u2019s actual daughter, and, of course, in true operatic fashion, they fall madly in love.<\/p>\n
This being Italian opera, that is only the beginning of the dramatic twists and turns that concern Abigaille, Nabucco\u2019s supposed daughter and heir to his throne, and Zaccaria, the valiant Hebrew high priest who defends his people from her death warrant.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s kind of a baddie,\u201d summed up French soprano Sylvie Valayre of Abigaille. \u201cShe is very unhappy because she thinks she is the daughter of a king and, in fact, is the daughter of slaves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valayre thrilled audiences last season in the title role of \u201cTosca\u201d and the musical challenges in \u201cNabucco\u201d have brought down many a less talented singer in other productions. The high tessitura required in the role is as daunting as the low range in juxtaposition. It also matches the character\u2019s erratic temperament.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the kind of characters who are heroic but mentally disturbed,\u201d added Valayre. \u201cShe\u2019s crazy\u2014definitely, because she thinks she has to be a warrior.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of Ismaele, tenor Arthur Shen chimed in that he has his own sort of problems: \u201cHe represents pure love while Abigaille has blind ambition. He\u2019s the captain of the Hebrew army who has fallen in love with a Babylonian girl. He\u2019s disgraced by the Jews but enjoys a wonderful redemption.\u201d<\/p>\n
Susanna Poretsky as his beloved observed that as the real daughter of Nabucco, she doesn\u2019t have to do anything to earn the love of her father or Ismaele, and notes that the decency of Zaccaria prompts her to convert to Judaism.<\/p>\n
Testament to the opera\u2019s vocal challenges was made by the stentorian-voiced Raymond Aceto, the bass who portrays Zaccaria: \u201cIn this opera, the bass is more than the third dude from the left,\u201d citing three arias he sings in widely differing styles. \u201cThe first is a cantabile with chorus, then \u201cThe Prayer,\u201d which has the most beautiful long legato lines, very mellifluous. It demands virtuosity.\u201d<\/p>\n
He describes his character as a rock among his people who always stays centered and true to his religious convictions. Musically, Aceto feels that the opera became a patriotic piece in that Verdi brought a revival of Italian cultural traditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn \u2018Nabucco,\u2019 Verdi\u2019s just starting to write for the heroic baritone,\u201d weighs in Richard Paul Fink, who sings the title role as a replacement for the indisposed Zeljko Lucic. \u201cYou can always feel the mood and energy in the music. He lets you soar.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for his character\u2019s mental disposition, things are not as lyrical: \u201cHe\u2019s very strong-willed and so full of himself that he declares himself a god. He becomes the handicapped person who can\u2019t see what\u2019s going on. After he has a vision in prison of how his people will suffer, his transformation through insanity to a man who has been redeemed is a fascinating acting experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Director Lofti Mansouri concurs. \u201cAll of the characters have their own personal journeys. Abigaille loses the man she loves but learns to forgive. Verdi always finds the emotional truth in each character and for a stage director this opera is a great honor.\u201d<\/p>\n
All agree that this is first and foremost a choral opera. Verdi earned the title \u201cpadre del coro\u201d (father of the chorus) and he developed the chorus as a dramatic power, Mansouri observed. Veteran Verdi conductor Edoardo Muller conducts the San Diego Symphony.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a call and refrain style that is quite liturgical,\u201d moderator Reveles said. \u201cEvery character has a prayer which makes it very spiritual,\u201d he said, noting that the famous \u201cVa, Pensiero\u201d is full of liturgical supplication and lamentation. \u201cMany of the prayers border on Catholicism,\u201d Mansouri added.<\/p>\n
As for Fink as a last-minute Nabucco, the noted Wagnerian claims that had he not had as much experience with many other Verdi operas he would not be as confident. After four days of intensive practice with the director of his hometown Houston Opera, he jumped into rehearsals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have all been so supportive by giving me free reign, but also reigning me in from time to time,\u201d he concluded with a chuckle.u<\/p>\n
\u201cNabucco\u201d plays Feb. 20, 23, 26 and 28 at the Civic Theatre in downtown San Diego. (619) 533-7000 or www.sdopera.com<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Roundtable sets the stage for \u2018Nabucco\u2019 By Jeff Britton About a week before each opera opens, San Diego Opera offers a nifty way to prime the pump for enjoying what will soon take place on stage. \u201cThe Artists Roundtable\u201d allows singers, the director and the conductor to share their take on each character, the musical […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":243231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Roundtable sets the stage for \u2018Nabucco\u2019","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}