Arena di Verona: Nabucco

Арена ди Верона: Набукко

The emotions of ‘Va, pensiero’ as you have never experienced them before. The choral drama par excellence, in a poetic and visionary production designed by Stefano Poda.

Verdi’s “Nabucco”, known for its strong choral parts and dramatic plot, is a highlight of the 2025 Arena di Verona Opera Festival. The spectacular new production is created by Stefano Poda, who is also behind the set, choreography, costumes and design. In his interpretation of the opera, Poda removes the conflict between the Babylonians and Israelites from its historical context. For him, the hostile peoples stand for all the peoples of yesterday, today and perhaps tomorrow, who hope for reunification and peace in the end. Anna Netrebko plays Abigaille, Nabucco’s daughter – one of the most demanding roles in Verdi’s repertoire. The opera was premiered in Milan in 1842 and was the composer’s first major success.

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Actors

Abigaiile

Anna Netrebko

Nabucco

Amartuvshin Enkhbat

Zaccaria

Christian van Horn

Fenena

Francesca Di Sauro

Ismaele

Galeano Salas

Crew

Staging, Set, Costume, Lighting & Choreography

Stefano Poda

Conductor

Pinchas Steinberg

Special project

Arena di Verona

The huge stage of the ancient Arena di Verona is a grand scenery in itself. But it is not so easy to live up to it. The great Franco Zeffirelli considered the Arena the ideal stage: here he could demonstrate both his ability to work with large spaces and his meticulous attention to detail. The arena presents a challenge to directors, and when they accept this challenge and successfully cope with it, the audience receives truly monumental, colorful and breathtaking productions. These are exactly the ones presented in our collection for the big screen. →

Summary

Nabucco, King of Babylon, has laid siege to the city of Jerusalem. Zaccariah, the High Priest, encourages the Hebrew people to take refuge in Salomon’s temple and assures them that it is still possible to negotiate for peace since the enemy’s daughter, Fenena, has been captured. Zaccariah assigns her to Ismael, nephew of Jerusalem’s king.

What the High Priest does not know, however, is that Fenena and Ismael have known each other for some time and are in love. Ismael had been Ambassador to Babylon and Fenena had saved him. In the same way, now, the young man is trying to free his beloved, but she is blocked by a group of Babylonian warriors dressed up as Hebrews and led by Abigail, Nabucco’s other daughter, a woman set on deception and with a lust for power. She, too, loves Ismael, but love for her is, above all, a political question, something to be used in exchange for her love.

She accuses the young man of betrayal and reminds him that she has already offered him the kingdom of Babylon in exchange for his love. Notwithstanding, she is willing to renounce her revenge if Ismael leaves Fenena. He refuses saying he does not fear death but asks only for mercy on his people. In the meantime, there is mayhem outside. Other Hebrews have taken refuge in the temple and when Nabucco raids it, Zaccariah makes an extreme attempt to save his people: he threatens to kill Fenena but Ismael blocks him and hands the young girl over to her father. At this, Nabucco gives orders to destroy the temple.