The biblical tale of Nebuchadnezzar has been loosely woven into the libretto presenting the battle between the Jews and the Babylonians in the 6th century BCE. In the end, after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Jews are victorious and return to the city to rebuild the temple.
Tatiana SerjanThe excellent cast was headed by Tatiana Serjan as Abigaille. Ms. Serjan has a large, flexible voice that handled the vocal acrobatics of the role with ease, including a two octave run from high C down to middle C. This role was created for Verdi's wife, Giuseppina Strepponi, who must have had a remarkable voice to sing this role. Ms. Serjan is a little shrill at the top, but so are most Russian sopranos. In this case it worked well with the characterization of Abigaille, who is a veritable shrew.
Dmitry BelosselskiyDmitry Belosselskiy was Zaccaria, singing with a stentorian basso voice that thrilled. Ismaele was Sergei Skorokhodov, a marvelous tenor. Elizabeth DeShong sang the part of Fenena with a beautiful mezzo voice that sometimes was lost in the ensembles.
Dmitry BelosselskiyŽeljko Lučić sang the title role of Nabucco. He seemed to be under-voiced in the first two acts but by act 3 it was obvious why he might have been holding back. His very difficult aria was a gut-buster. His was probably the smallest voice on the stage.
Željko LučićA special Bravi must go to the wonderful Chorus of Chicago Lyric. They had several large scenes basically to themselves and sang beautifully, having been prepared by Michael Black.
The conductor was Carlo Rizzi who led the whole production with energy and enthusiasm.
It was a wonderful evening, though icy cold outside, to be at the Lyric Opera!
