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

*****

Wed, 11 Jan, 2017 - 00:00

Cathy Desmond

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.

Nabucco established Verdi’s reputation, a biblical epic of conflict between the Babylonians and Hebrews that carried a subtext for the Risorgimento in 19th century occupied Italy. Elijah Moshinsky’s lavish 2001 production looked refreshingly old fashioned. Even the men had fabulous frocks and you had to marvel at the alacrity at which the singers despite age or girth scaled the steep stone steps of the giant pyramid like revolving structure.

Domingo as Nabucco proved he still has the x-factor and was warm in timbre and convincing in his portrayal. Russian mezzo Liudmyla Monastryska as Abigaille was both fierce and tender in a Lady Macbeth type role. Jamie Barton and Russell Thomas sang so beautifully, you wished Verdi had written more for then to sing.

Very fine as Domingo and his co-stars were, the stand out moment belonged to the Met chorus. Stacked vertically from floor to roof on the huge stone set, they delivered the climactic number, ‘Va Pensiero’ with serene intensity. The sustained applause was rewarded with a reprise.

The only disappointment in Waterford was experienced by the two dozen or so patrons turned away at the box office because the cinema was completely full.