Naive: V5158

On 9 March 1842, when Nabucco was first produced, Giuseppe Verdi was twenty-nine years old. and just another musician trying to get himself moticed, However his talent was soon recognised by Bartolomeo Merelli, impresario of La Scala in Milan and the Imperial Theatre in Vienna. A single evening was enough to make him the man of the moment, at a time when opera was the surest and quickest means for a composer to secure affluence, material comfort, fame and respect. It must be remembered that the principle roles were taken by three of the most famous opera singers of that time: the impressive soprano Giuseppina Strepponi - who was to be forced by ill health into premature retirement six years later, and who was to become Verdi’s attentive life-partner sang the part of Abigaille, Giorgio Ronconi, a baritone and a great specialist in the art of bel canto, was Nabucco, and the bass Prosper Derivis took the part of Zaccaria.