Opera review: Nabucco, Met Live in HD - Odeon Waterford

As the matinée audience filed through Lincoln Plaza to fill the Met, the ‘sold out’ signs went up at cinema 7 at the Odeon Complex in Miller’s Marsh, Waterford, as Irish opera lovers simultaneously assembled to watch the transmission of Nabucco live from New York.

The draw was the presence of two opera titans whose careers have been immersed in the history of Met Opera for close on five decades. With maestro James Levine in the pit and Placido Domingo commanding the stage, this promised to be a special evening. The septuagenarian gentlemen represent a triumph of resilience over adversity. Levine is now confined to a wheelchair. Domingo has ignored the frequent suggestions that it might be time to retire.