Nabucco was first staged in 1842. It was Verdi's third opera and first big success. In this television recording made at La Scala, Milan, the maestro Riccardo Muti hurls himself into the overture so energetically that he reminds me of Bugs Bunny conducting 'Poet and Peasant'. Everything is wonderfully over the top. Renato Bruson (baritone) makes a superbly wretched King Nebuchadnezzar. Ghena Dimitrova (soprano) as Abigalle really impresses; her 'Salgo già' is the high spot for me. 'The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves' is in this opera too. Musically, this is great stuff. I watched a second time and liked the production better. The sound on the Warner/Kultur DVD released in 2004 seems a shade below perfect but good enough.

Nabucco is probably Verdi's first masterpiece, but a masterpiece that seems forgotten. Apart from the beautiful Va Pansiero, there was very little of the opera that I recognised beforehand. This is a shame because while the story is somewhat obsolete perhaps the music is amazing as is always the case with Verdi.This stage production is fantastic. One or two scenes are a little static in the staging, but you can forgive that when the look of the production, music and singing more than makes up for it. Riccardo Muti conducts the orchestra with great energy and musicality and all the pivotal scenes are performed and sung brilliantly.The setting itself is truly spectacular and I equally loved the lavish costumes. The singing and performances are first rate, with two especially that stood out. The real standout is Ghena Dimitrova, who is superb in such a demanding role(one that reportedly brought on the downfall of some who tackled it), she has a wondrous voice which she uses effortlessly even in the fiendishly difficult bits and her acting is also so good because while she is the character you hate you do feel sympathy for her at the end. That is not to exclude Renato Bruson who displays a powerful dramatic ability and a rich velvety voice to boot, altogether an equally outstanding titular performance.All in all, fantastic production. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I last watched this recording about 8 years ago when I gave it a 10/10 rating. Well, the filming of live opera has come on a bit since then and we are rather spoiled by the Met's hi-fi, high definition widescreen broadcasts so this 1985 production from La Scala is beginning to show its age.The old-fashionedness extends not just to its technical merits but also to its production values. There is a spectacular set and there are lavish costumes but everyone just stands in a row and sings as if they are performing at your local amateur operatic society. Part of the problem is the static nature of this early Verdi opera. It is however his first, unquestionable masterpiece and it it packed with big tunes and rumpy-pumpy rhythms with guaranteed rabble-rousing quality.The audience at La Scala were certainly roused by this production, under the energetic baton of Riccardo Muti. This is an opera where the baddies get the best music. Bruno Beccaria and Raquel Pierroti have little to do as the goody-goody Ishmaele and Fenena. Renato Bruson has some lyrical baritone passages in the title role. Best of all is Ghena Dimitrova as the evil Abigaille. This is a very demanding role with some blood-curdling lower passages and some stratospheric flights. I always feel that it is unfair that everyone lives happily ever after except for her.

Nabucco (1985): Starring Renato Bruson, Ghena Dimitrova, Bruno Beccaria, Raquel Pierotti, Mario Luperi, Ernesto Gavazzi, Francesca Garbi, Conductor Ricardo Muti And The La Scala Opera Orchestra And Chorus, Director Brian Large "Fly Thoughts On Golden Wings"........This 1985 performance of a La Scala production of another Brian Large-for-TV-directed opera, Verdi's Nabucco, is stunning and powerfully rendered, and for me the greatest staged Nabucco of all time. A superior Nabucco you are hard-pressed to find. Baritone Renato Bruson stars as the titular Babylonian tyrant. Bruson's great abilities lie not only in his remarkably powerful singing but in his dramatic portrayal of the old evil King of Babylon. His facial expressions are intense and stern, his costumes befits the character as well, mostly a silvery armor and helmet. Bruson combines glorious Verdi baritone song technique with dramatic truth. Like the biblical tyrant, he is fierce, proud, haughty and vainglorious. In the scene after he is struck by God's lightning for assuming he had become God, he has a convincingly rendered Mad Scene. In the last scene, in which he repents and admits to being a mere mortal next to the Hebrew God, we are genuinely moved on an emotional level. In the concluding scene in which he leads a band of minions to destroy the statue of the pagan god Baal (the music number "Immense Jehovah", the opera reaches a climax and suddenly Nabucco is transformed into a kind of mythic hero. This is Bruson's best work. 80's powerhouse diva Ghena Dimitrova sings the role of Abigaille, Nabucco's wicked adopted daughter, born a slave and harboring resentment that she should not be given the crown. Dimotrova is possibly the first draw to this performance, as she is singing her signature role and pulling all the stops. The heavy-dramatic role is normally a voice-killer with its high tessitura and demanding vocal pyrotechnics but Dimitrova handles it with flair and effortlessness. Plus, she looks great in her costumes (designed by Odette Nicoletti). She first enters clad in dark blue armor, flowing cape and helmet, nearly resembling a Wagner Valkyrie. But Abigaille has her soft side as well. She loves the Hebrew Ismele (tenor Bruno Becaria in an otherwise dull role) and experiences a kind of defeat and transformation similar to Kundry's death in Wagner's Parsifal. Ismele loves the daughter of the King, Fenena (Raquel Pirotti) who is ironically, her rival and the legitimate daughter of the King with a claim to the throne. Fenena's wardrobe, too, is gorgeous, looking like a fairy-tale princess in a gauzy white gown studded with tiny star-like crystals. This is the most breathtaking Nabucco I've ever seen. Babylon looks like a mythical, exotic land, at times resembling Atlantis, as in Act 3. When Abigaille becomes Queen, her Throne Room is grandiose and decorated with images of mermaids, fish, and the Zodiac sign. In the duet with Nabucco, the backdrop contains a tunnel where a light shines through and in the highest part we see cherubs and in the lower portions we see Assyrian animal and human figures. The contrast between the white robes of the Hebrew priests and veiled women in white and the dark or midnight blue armor of the pagan Assyrians is a great touch, evoking good versus evil. Conductor Ricardo Muti is genuinely immersed in the compellingly dramatic music and makes grandiose Toscanini or Karajan-type gestures with his hands/baton. In truth, this music is powerful and this was Verdi's first great hit, though now only a rarely performed opera and one time seems to be forgetting. With productions as good as this one, hopefully this opera can remain in every opera house's repertory.