Did Verdi’s most famous chorus really spark a revolution against the Austrian authorities?
In short: The legend says the audience demanded an encore of the Hebrew Slaves' chorus to protest Austrian rule. But recent scholarship reveals the crowd actually cheered for a different hymn entirely. This discovery challenges the long-held myth of Verdi as the singular musical figurehead of the Italian Risorgimento movement.
Nabucco, composed by Giuseppe Verdi in 1841, marked the definitive start of his artistic career. Following the tragic loss of his wife and two infant children, Verdi had vowed to quit composing. He was only persuaded to write the opera after the impresario Bartolomeo Merelli forced the libretto into his pocket. The work premiered at La Scala on March 9, 1842, and became a colossal success, securing Verdi’s reputation despite harsh criticism from peers like Otto Nicolai.
The opera’s plot is a dramatic composite, blending the historical Nebuchadnezzar II with elements from the stories of Nabonidus and Cyrus the Great. While the biblical Nebuchadnezzar’s madness is a central theme, the opera compresses this experience into a brief moment of divine punishment, differing significantly from the seven-year period described in the Book of Daniel. Furthermore, historical records confirm that it was Cyrus the Great, not the Babylonians, who ultimately freed the Jews and rebuilt their temple in 539 BC.
Musically, the work is defined by its propulsive rhythms and the central role of the chorus. While the 'Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves' is its most famous number, the myth that it served as a revolutionary anthem for the Risorgimento has been largely debunked. Audiences actually demanded an encore for the hymn 'Immenso Jehova' in the fourth act, not the slaves' chorus. Nevertheless, the piece remains deeply symbolic; at Verdi’s funeral in 1901, Arturo Toscanini conducted a massive choir of 820 singers in a performance of 'Va, pensiero' before a crowd of 300,000 people.
The opera’s technical demands are substantial, particularly for the soprano singing Abigaille, who must navigate extreme vocal ranges. The score utilizes a diverse array of instruments, including an onstage banda and an unusual accompaniment of six cellos for the prayer 'Vieni o Levita'. Today, the work remains a staple of the global repertoire, performed everywhere from the Metropolitan Opera to the Sultan's Pool in Jerusalem.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Nabucco
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