Also available on Blu-ray On the occasion of the 200th birthday of Giuseppe Verdi, Teatro Regio di Parma and Unitel Classica have joined forces to...

Also available on Blu-ray

On the occasion of the 200th birthday of Giuseppe Verdi, Teatro Regio di Parma and Unitel Classica have joined forces to create a truly unique project – for the first time ever, and just in time for the composer’s 200th brithday, Verdi’s Operatic oeuvre, which comprises the labour of more than 50 years, will be available in High Definition and Surround Sound. All of the composer’s 26 Operas, as well as the Requiem – which is closely related to the Operas – will be performed and audio-visually recorded in and around Parma, and released on DVD and Blu-ray. Verdi’s Nabucco is presented here staged by Daniele Abbado. Bonus features include a 10 minute introduction of the opera.

"As last year, the musical direction was entrusted to Michele Mariotti, whose immersion in the score has deepened further allowing him to provide a very remarkable reading. Simply seeing the warmth that all the singers offered him from the stage was enough realize that this young maestro has managed to develop genuine team work producing very good results. His interpretation of “Va pensiero” was unique: a very personal reading, slow, solemn and moving from which the Teatro Regio Chorus rewarded him with spectacular and truly unusual performance. I had never heard a chorus singing this passage at such a pianissimo complete with real diminuendos. This only can be done by an exceptional choir... Similarly, the music from of the Teatro Regio Orchestra was everything to be expected from this excellent group. The protagonist Nabucco was Leo Nucci, the Verdi Festival’s true star... Abigaille was the Greek soprano Dimitra Theodossiou... The cheers she received were not even true cheers, but spectacular screams, so loud that it seemed as if her life might be at risk. At her final bow she was almost completely covered by flowers, thrown from the upper floors, with none left at all for any other artist... As might be expected there was a completely full house for this almost gala performance. 'Va pensiero' was encored at popular request and at the final bows, there were triumphs for Leo Nucci, Dimitra Theodossiou and Michele Mariotti." -- José M. Irurzun, MusicWeb International reviewing a live performance of this production

Nabucco – Leo Nucci
Ismaele – Bruno Ribeiro
Zaccaria – Riccardo Zanellato
Abigaille – Dimitra Theodossiou
Fenena – Annamaria Chiuri
Il Gran Sacerdote di Belo – Alessandro Spina
Abdallo – Mauro Buffoli
Anna – Cristina Giannelli

Teatro Regio di Parma Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Martino Faggiani)
Michele Mariotti, conductor

Daniele Abbado, staging
Caroline Lang, stage director
Luigi Perego, set and costume designer
Valero Alfier, lighting designer

Recorded live from the Teatro Regio di Parma, 2009

Bonus:
- Introduction to Nabucco

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
Running time: 137 mins (opera) + 10 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1