"Nabucco" by Giuseppe Verdi Returns to the Israeli Opera Stage

The Israeli Opera celebrates its 40th anniversary this month, June 2026, with a production of Verdi's "Nabucco." This work has earned the nickname "The Jewish Opera," as it more than any other expresses the eternal longing of the Jewish people for their homeland and the unceasing hope for freedom. The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, Va, pensiero, has become a universal prayer for liberty worldwide. Today, more than ever, this prayer takes on a special significance.

Maestro Carlo Montanaro arrives in Israel to conduct Verdi's Jewish Opera. The Brazilian-Jewish director André Heller-Lopes, who has created several versions of this opera in Europe and Latin America, comes to Israel and the Israeli Opera for the first time. By staging Verdi's masterpiece in Israel, he closes an emotional personal circle. The production features soloists from Israel and abroad, the opera orchestra—the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion, and the Israeli Opera Chorus.

The production, one of Verdi’s most foundational works, was created in collaboration with the Minas Gerais Opera House in Brazil. It brings to the stage a sweeping biblical drama of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile, featuring a large chorus, orchestra, and soloists from Israel and around the world.

"Nabucco" premiered on March 9, 1842, at La Scala in Milan, turning Verdi into a central figure almost overnight. A personal story is linked to its birth: following the deaths of his wife and two children, and the failure of his previous opera, Verdi considered quitting composition. According to tradition, the libretto by Temistocle Solera, placed in his hands, returned him to writing and reignited his imagination; from that text grew an opera with a clear patriotic dimension, reflecting Milan at a time when it was under Austrian rule.

The Production: This production focuses on the human power of the work: an opera about identity tested under exile, the struggle between power and faith, and the possibility of rising again from destruction. Verdi's music shapes the events and highlights the characters' critical turning points—from mass scenes to private confrontations where one decision changes everything.

At the center of the work stands the chorus as the voice of the people. The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, "Va, pensiero," is the prayer of a community—a song in which an exiled people connects place, memory, and identity, gathering them into a single hope. Over the years, this chorus has become a world-renowned and beloved anthem of freedom.

The Plot: The story takes place in Jerusalem in the 6th century BCE. The Israelites pray for salvation from the armies of Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar), King of Babylon. Zaccaria, the High Priest, encourages his people while Fenena—Nabucco’s daughter—is held hostage. Simultaneously, a love affair is revealed between Fenena and Ismaele, the nephew of the King of Jerusalem, a connection born in Babylon when Fenena helped him escape and chose to follow him to Jerusalem. Into this tension enters Abigaille, Fenena's half-sister, who desires both Ismaele and the crown. In Babylon, the succession struggle intensifies, Abigaille seizes power, and a death sentence is signed for the Hebrew captives, including Fenena.

In the final act, Nabucco regains his sanity, saves his daughter and the people, releases the Hebrews, and declares their return to their homeland and the rebuilding of the Temple.

Direction: The production is directed by André Heller-Lopes, one of the most prominent and sought-after directors on the international opera scene today, making his Israeli debut. He trained in the Merola Program at the San Francisco Opera and later in the Young Artists Program at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London, and won the Britten 100 Award. Under his direction, "Nabucco" becomes not just a sweeping historical epic, but a human drama about power, faith, brokenness, and hope. This new production, created in collaboration with the Minas Gerais Opera House in Brazil, combines theatrical power with a contemporary reading of the story of refugees, exiles, and peoples searching for home and belonging.

In his words on 'Nabucco': Heller-Lopes describes the opera as "a work dealing with questions of identity, community, faith, and constant change." According to him, the Jewish people are a community composed of a variety of voices, traditions, memories, and ways of thinking. He believes that the abundance of questions, doubts, and arguments is part of what has defined the people throughout the generations, emphasizing that "even the opera's heroes themselves are not fixed or one-dimensional characters, but human beings in a continuous process of change and development, moving between fanaticism, rebellion, faith, compassion, and hope."

The director also notes that for him, as a Jew, "staging 'Nabucco' as part of the Israeli Opera’s 40th season is a particularly personal and significant moment." He links his family history in Europe to the feeling of 'returning' to Israel, stating that the inspiration for the production's design was born during his first visit to Tel Aviv and his encounter with Jewish commemorative works at Beit Hatfutsot (The Museum of the Jewish People). For him, 'Nabucco' is ultimately a work about human beings living between past and future, and about a community that continues to build and change itself constantly.

The Italian conductor Carlo Montanaro, who has conducted "La Bohème" and "Lucia di Lammermoor" at the Israeli Opera in recent seasons, brings to the stage the full passion, drama, and depth of Verdian music, leading the Israeli Opera Orchestra—the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion.

The Israeli Opera Chorus, conducted by Itay Berckovitch, is entrusted with one of the most extensive and foundational choral roles in Verdi's oeuvre. In "Nabucco," the chorus is the voice of an entire nation: the emotional and conceptual center of the entire opera, and the blueprint for the choral roles that Verdi would develop and expand in his subsequent works.

The production features leading soloists from Israel and around the world:

Nabucco: Mikołaj Zalasiński, Ionut Pascu

Abigaille: Elena Mikhailenko, Yulia Vasilyeva

Ismaele: Pavel Petrov

Zaccaria: Vazgen Gazaryan, Goderdzi Janelidze

Fenena: Rachel Frenkel, Shay Bloch

The High Priest: Oded Reich, Pnini Leon Grubner

Abdallo: Eitan Drori, David Goldberg

Anna: Shaked Strol, Dalia Besprozvany

Alongside additional participants.

Language: Italian

Duration: Approximately two and a half hours with an intermission

Subtitles: Hebrew and English

Translation: Israel Ouval

Performance Dates:

Friday, June 12, at 13:00

Sunday, June 14, at 19:30 --- Gala Evening

Monday, June 15, at 20:00

Tuesday, June 16, at 20:00

Thursday, June 18, at 20:00

Friday, June 19, at 13:00

Sunday, June 21, at 18:00

Monday, June 22, at 20:00

Wednesday, June 24, at 18:00

Thursday, June 25, at 20:30 - Closed White Night Performance

Saturday, June 27, at 20:30

Ticket Prices: 210-490 NIS

For more details and ticket purchases:

https://www.israel-opera.co.il/show/nabucco/

Or at the Israeli Opera box office by phone: 03-6927777

Shlomo Lahat (Chich) Opera House
Address: 19 Shaul HaMelech, Tel Aviv
Phone: 03-6927700
Instagram tag: @israeliopera

(Photo: Paulo Lacerda)