The Crowning Glory of MOT’s ‘Nabucco’

Francesca Patanè in the treacherously difficult part of Abigaille in Verdi’s “Nabucco.”

Photograph courtesy of Michigan Opera Theatre

For an opera based on biblical texts, Verdi’s Nabucco is holy hell to cast. Required is a chorus that can sing like a flight of angels, an iron-lunged soprano (Abigaille) with a range that leaps from cellar to attic, the commanding presence of two male leads (Zaccaria, the leader of the Israelites, and Nabucco, the King of Babylon) and a conductor and stage director to hold the mammoth production together.

Michigan Opera Theatre’s production of Nabucco isn’t just a feather in the cap of general director David DiChiera, it’s a whole chief’s headdress.

The plight of the Hebrews under the boot of the Babylonians in 587 B.C. may not sound like a particularly dramatic scenario, but when you add vengeance, sibling rivalry, unrequited love, jealousy, and a struggle for the Babylonian crown to the mix, you’ve got the ingredients that put the grand in grand opera.

On opening night (Oct. 17) at the Detroit Opera Theatre, Francesca Patanè, as Abigaille, was a fireball of dramatic and vocal intensity. When she sings of vengeance, she virtually spits out her words. Her darkly menacing, throaty, and reedy voice, like Lady Macbeth’s in Verdi’s Macbeth, isn’t supposed to be beautiful. She’s driven by envy and spite, and her voice needs to reflect those emotions. But when she sings of love (she’s smitten by Ismaele, who just happens to be the King of Jerusalem’s son and the lover of her sister, Fenena), Patanè scales her voice down to a lovely, feathery pianissimo. However, when she delivers those vindictive-spiked high C’s, she doesn’t merely sing the notes, she pulverizes them. She moves like a rabid panther on the stage, and everyone gives her wide berth. But she still can’t melt the heart of Ismaele, so she turns her attention to nabbing her father’s crown and executing Ismaele and Fenena.

It’s fortuitous that Patanè (interviewed in the September 2009 issue of Hour Detroit) popped up on DiChiera’s radar, because she rarely sings in the United States and few know her name on these shores. But after this outing, few are likely to forget it.

Turkish bass Burak Bilgili and Italian baritone Marco Di Felice turn in convincing, authoritative performances, and their voices are both burnished and magisterial. The actually sound like leaders.

In the secondary roles of Ismaele and Fenena, Noah Stewart and Carla Dirlikov are a bit wooden, and their voices could use some ripening, but they’re interesting enough that one would like to hear more from them.

For her marshaling of the chorus, Suzanne Mallare Acton deserves a bouquet. The Hebrews’ famous choral number, “Va, pensiero,” wasn’t just an operatic barnburner. It was delicately shaded with feeling.

In the pit is MOT stalwart Steven Mercurio. He keeps the tempos sprightly while also “breathing” along with the singers. He also coaxes tonal color and drama from the orchestra.

The stage sometimes gets so crowded that it needs a traffic cop, but director Mario Corradi keeps the flow as seamless as possible.

Yes, one can kvetch about dramatic flaws in the opera, such as Nabucco’s sudden insanity after being hit by lightning bolts, and his equally quick recovery. And Abigaille’s contrition-fueled death by poisoning is too pat. But those small blemishes are nearly forgotten in a performance like this.

Oh, and there’s one other downside to Nabucco. It runs for only two more performances, with the same cast as in this review.

MOT’s Nabucco will be performed at 7:30 Oct. 21 and 24 at the Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway, Detroit; 313-237-SING. Tickets: $29-$121.

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