Verdi: Nabucco

Nabucco was Verdi's third opera, and it's filled with one great, energy-filled melody after another; if the drama is a bit crude (the characters are one-dimensional at best), the emotions are sincere and the passions run high enough to make one forgive Verdi's youthful enthusiasm. The role of Abigaille, Nabucco's evil daughter, is a voice-wrecker, but the animal-like Ghena Dimitrova sounds as if she could sing it in her sleep. She hurls the high Bs and Cs at us as ferociously as the Bs and Cs two octaves lower--this is a stunner of a performance. As the title character, Piero Cappuccilli sings with his usual big, unsubtle tone; one wishes for more sensitivity. Placido Domingo, who will apparently sing anything written in the tenor clef, makes as much of the little part of Ismaele, and bass Evgeny Nesterenko fills out the High Priest's music superbly. Giuseppe Sinopoli's leadership is probing, nuanced, and, when needed, as big as all outdoors. This is a pip of a performance, highly recommended. --Robert Levine