Live from the Met:
Nabucco Verdi said of Nabucco, his first great success: "With this opera it is fairto say my career began". The opera is set in 586 BC afterthe Babylonian king Nabucco has captured Jerusalem. When Nabucco was premiered in Milan in 1842 northern Italy was under Austrian domination and the Milanese audience identified so strongly with the plight of the oppressed Hebrews that the famous chorus, Va, Pensiero, in which the priests and people of Jerusalem lament their capture, became the rallying cry of Italian patriotism. During the interval Rodney Milnes continues his series Opera Snaps- a sideways glance at each of this season's Met operas. Verdi Nabucco
New York Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra, conductor James Levine Act
7.45 Interval: The Met Opera Quiz
Steven Blier puts listeners' questionsto Linda Fairtile , Father Owen Lee and Christopher Purdy.
8.15 Act 2