Verdi’s Nabucco will open the new season at the Cultural and Conference Centre of Heraklion in November, with 150 performers taking part in a co-production with North Macedonia’s National Opera.
The four-act opera, with a libretto by Temistocle Solera, will be staged on 12, 13, 14 and 15 November at 7:30pm in the Andreas and Maria Kalokairinou Hall.
Acclaimed soloists will join the orchestra, chorus and ballet of North Macedonia’s National Opera, together with the Heraklion Choral Ensemble. Renato Bonajuto directs, with a staging adaptation by Dejan Proshev.
Greek conductor Myron Michailidis, the centre’s artistic director, will lead the performances.
The story behind Nabucco
Solera’s libretto tells of the captivity of the Jews under the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, or Nabucco, in 587 BC. His arrogance in demanding to be worshipped as a god leads to his fall and, finally, to his conversion.
A hunger for power, devotion to God and a love tested by political and personal upheaval sit at the heart of the plot.
Nabucco premiered at La Scala in Milan on 9 March 1842. It made Verdi’s name and turned him into a national symbol, because his music captured the spirit of mature Romanticism and the desire for a free and united Italy.
Its best-known moment is “Va, pensiero”, the chorus of the Hebrew slaves. It became an emblem of patriotic longing and national awakening for Italians.
A season of 34 productions in Crete
However, Nabucco is just one of 34 productions and 70 events planned for the season, with 740 artists taking part. The programme spans opera, dance, tributes, recitals, festivals, symphonic and chamber music, traditional and Byzantine music, contemporary and choral music, and theatre.
Highlights include Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, a tribute to the Greek composer Yannis Markopoulos and a recital by the award-winning Russian pianist Nikolai Lugansky.
Presenting the programme, Michailidis said the centre is consolidating its position as an important cultural institution with national and international reach.
He said it does so “by investing in major productions, important artistic collaborations, new works and, at the same time, in showcasing the artistic talent of Crete, which now takes part in many of our productions”.
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