The Orchestra of Teatro Comunale di Bologna at Festival Verdi with Nabucodonosor

From 3 to 24 October, the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna took centre stage at the Teatro Regio di Parma with Nabucodonosor, the third opera of the 26th Festival Verdi. The new production, directed and designed (sets and costumes) by Pier Luigi Pizzi, was staged by the Teatro Regio di Parma in co-production with the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, where it will be performed from 3 to 9 November 2027, and the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa.

This partnership dates back to 2017, when the Orchestra took part in the Festival with Graham Vick’s Stiffelio at the Teatro Farnese; in 2019 it returned for Luisa Miller in the church of San Francesco del Prato and Aida at the Teatro Verdi in Busseto.

Francesco Lanzillotta conducted the Comunale Orchestra and the Chorus of the Teatro Regio di Parma, prepared by Martino Faggiani, in the critical edition by Roger Parker for The University of Chicago Press and Casa Ricordi.

The appeal of the Nabucodonosor score lies precisely “in the alternation between a powerful, abrasive and at times violent orchestra,” Lanzillotta explained, “and pages of extreme lyricism entrusted to just a few instruments, where the chamber element comes to the fore: every note carries theatrical weight, closely tied to the text.”

The cast featured baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar (Nabucodonosor), soprano Lidia Fridman (Abigaille) and bass Michele Pertusi (Zaccaria), alongside Andrés Moreno García (Ismaele), Laura Verrecchia (Fenena), Adriano Gramigni (the High Priest of Baal), Simone Fenotti (Abdallo) and Maria Cristina Bellantuono (Anna).

Verdi’s third opera, first performed at the Teatro alla Scala on 9 March 1842 to a libretto by Temistocle Solera, Nabucodonosor turned a still little-known composer into the most eagerly awaited name in Italian opera, thanks in part to the famous chorus “Va, pensiero”.

With four performances at the Regio di Parma, the Comunale Orchestra once again brought the sound of Bologna to the heart of the Festival Verdi. The long-standing collaboration between the two institutions has grown stronger since 2017, when the Orchestra, together with the Chorus of the Bologna opera and symphony foundation, took part in the festival with Graham Vick’s Stiffelio at the Teatro Farnese, conducted by Guillermo García Calvo and winner of the Special Prize of the “Franco Abbiati” Music Critics’ Award, and with La traviata in Busseto, directed by Andrea Bernard with Sebastiano Rolli on the podium.