Live from the Met: Nabucco
The opera that established Verdi's position as the foremost Italian composer of his generation, Nabucco, was as much about nationalism as it was about music. On the long road to Italian unity, the song that kept the movement going was the famous chorus of the Hebrew slaves, Va Pensiero. The real heroes of the opera are the Hebrew people. Will they manage to free themselves from captivity in Babylon? Presented by Margaret Juntwait.
New York Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra, conductor James Levine
Parts 1 and 2 7.50 Interval: The Met Opera Quiz
Thor Eckert puts listeners' questions to Ken Benson , Lotf Mansouri and Paul Thomason.
Send questions to Met Opera Quiz, FDR Station, PO Box 805, New York, NY 10150, or via bbc.co.uk/radio3
8.20 Parts 3 and 4