"Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate" (1842)
The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, a paraphrase of Psalm 137, sung largely in unison
Recording: Unknown · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Opera · Italian opera
Nabucco
9 March 1842, Teatro alla Scala, Milan
Giuseppe Verdi · libretto by Temistocle Solera
The Babylonian king who sacked Jerusalem declares himself a god, is struck mad by a thunderbolt, and is restored when he repents. Verdi's third opera made him famous at 28, and its chorus of exiled Hebrews became an unofficial anthem of Italian nationhood.
How to spot them
- ▸Jerusalem and Babylon, 587 BC: a conquering king, his slave-born elder daughter, and the Hebrews in captivity
- ▸Baritone king, dramatic soprano usurper daughter, bass high priest, and a chorus that does the emotional heavy lifting
- ▸The famous moment: the captives on the banks of the Euphrates sing in near-unison of their lost homeland
- ▸Quiz clues: La Scala 1842, Solera, Psalm 137, Strepponi, and a hymn sung at Verdi's funeral
Arias & moments — listen
"Anch'io dischiuso un giorno" (1842)
The usurping elder daughter discovers she is a slave's child, and remembers she once had a heart
"Dio di Giuda!" (1842)
The mad king, locked away, prays to the God of Judah and recovers his reason
"Tu sul labbro de' veggenti" (1842)
The high priest Zaccaria's Act II prophecy, accompanied by six solo cellos
The Overture (1842)
A potpourri built from later numbers, opening with solemn trombones and ending with a gallop
Quick-fire facts
- •Its full original title is Nabucodonosor — the Italian for Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon.
- •The premiere was at La Scala, Milan, on 9 March 1842; it was Verdi's third opera and his first great success.
- •It followed the failure of Un giorno di regno and the deaths of Verdi's wife and both children, after which he had nearly given up composing.
- •The libretto is by Temistocle Solera, who also wrote I Lombardi and Attila for Verdi.
- •Abigaille was created by Giuseppina Strepponi, who later became Verdi's second wife.
- •"Va, pensiero" paraphrases Psalm 137, "By the rivers of Babylon"; it has repeatedly been proposed as an alternative Italian national anthem.
- •Toscanini conducted a massed chorus of "Va, pensiero" at Verdi's funeral procession in Milan in 1901.
- •The story that the premiere audience demanded an encore of "Va, pensiero" as a nationalist protest is largely a later legend; the number encored was the hymn "Immenso Jeovha".
- •The king proclaims himself God, is struck by lightning into madness, and regains his wits only on renouncing his idols.
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Sources
- Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press) — Nabucco
- Julian Budden — The Operas of Verdi
- Mary Jane Phillips-Matz — Verdi: A Biography