Great art is about great choices, and Verdi made great choices in writing operas like Nabucco! I'd like to reflect for a few minutes on just what kinds of choices he made in this exciting opera as we come to the end of this brilliant production!

We all know by now that Verdi's Nabucco is loosely based on the Bible, and the deep background of the story is the Babylonian Captivity, the Exile.  Upon looking more closely at the libretto of the opera, one can find all of the different forms of prayer that one can actually find in the Bible, prayer-forms that are actually recognized by Biblical scholars.  Did Temistocle Solera, the librettist for Verdi's opera, know the Bible that well?  Perhaps, perhaps not.  But listen to the examples you'll find in today's podcast and make up your own mind.