GIUSEPPE VERDI
NABUCCO
M IC H A E L S AWA L L
nificance of Verdi’s name in the winter of 1858/59, during the heated period before the war of 1859. In Florence, the greeting “Viva Verdi!” was widespread, in Modena and Milan, youths painted graffiti with Verdi’s name on walls. V.E.R.D.I. This stood for “Vittorio Emanuele Re D’Italia” (Victorio Ema nuel, King of Italy) and was the symbol for the liberation from Austrian foreign rule in northern Italy and a united Italy under the King of Piedmont. Verdi’s appearance on the political stage promoted the creation of the po litical Verdi myth. In mid-September 1859, as a member of the Parma Depu tation, he was welcomed triumphantly by the people of Turin in advance of giving the King of Piedmont the results of the vote of his home province in fa vour of political union with Piedmont. At the start of 1861, he reluctantly took office as a delegate of the first Italian parliament (1861-68), under massive pressure from Cavour as the first Italian minister-president.
It was not until the successful creation of Italy as a nation state that newspa per articles gave political significance to the choruses from Verdi’s early operas Nabucco, I lombardi and Ernani. Looking back to the beginnings of the Risorgimento, Verdi was now estab lished as the great Italian patriot, the “prophet” of Italian unity, and finally the “genio musicale” who instinctively set the emotions of “patria” and “lib ertà” to music, musically anticipating Italy’s unification. The fact that “Va, pensiero” achieved such significance, rather than another chorus expressing similar feelings, such as “O Signore, dal tetto natìo” (I lombardi) or “Patria oppressa” (Macbeth) undoubtedly has much to do with the personal, histori cal and political background described above. However, the lasting success of the composition was ultimately due to the extraordinary quality of the music – the measured, unison vocal line, the steady, natural rhythm, and the memo rability of the simple melody, plain and unembellished.
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MALTE OLSCHEWSKI
“Wherever possible, the dictator wants to do everything himself. He does not leave anything to his simple ministers: neither cultivating sugar beet nor urban planning and certainly not foreign policy. His power seems to be engaged 24 hours a day. Ideally the dictator does not need any sleep. Emperor Haile Selassie’s subjects recounted that the emperor always suffered an outburst of wrath when he woke up. Nature had overpowered him and forced him to sleep for several hours. All dictators hate sleep, because it is during this time that their power rests.”
FRIEDRICH SCHILLER
“IT IS DANGEROUS TO WAKE THE LION; THE TIGER’S BITE IS DEVASTATING. HOWEVER, THE MOST GHASTLY OF HORRORS IS MAN IN HIS MADNESS.”