There are reviews… and then there are nights like this one.
Nights that remind you why you fell in love with opera in the first place.
Because let’s be honest: Nabucco at La Scala, with Anna Netrebko, Luca Salsi, Francesco Meli, Michele Pertusi, Riccardo Chailly in the pit and a brand-new production by Alessandro Talevi… this is not just another evening at the opera. This is the kind of cast you read about in old books and legendary archives. The kind of evening that makes Verdi fans lose all sense of rationality weeks before the curtain even rises.
When La Scala announced this production back in May 2025, I already knew where I would be on May 16th, 2026. The date was marked in my calendar with the same intensity as a World Cup final… or maybe even more importantly, a Parma-Bologna derby.
And the torture started weeks before the premiere. Anna Netrebko casually posting rehearsal clips and backstage stories on Instagram felt a bit like watching trailers of your favorite movie months before release: exciting, cruel, impossible to ignore.
So yes, yesterday morning I boarded a train from Genoa to Milan with the emotional stability of a teenager going to see Taylor Swift live for the first time.
Why Genoa? Because the night before I was already feeding my Verdi addiction with Macbeth at the Teatro Carlo Felice. A sort of luxurious appetizer before the main course.
And what a main course this turned out to be.
For those who don’t know: Nabucco may not always be considered Verdi’s most refined masterpiece, but it is without question one of his most iconic works. Va, pensiero alone became a symbol of Italian identity, freedom, and collective emotion. Even today, hearing it in Italy feels less like attending an opera and more like participating in something sacred.
Now let’s get straight to it: the evening was phenomenal.
Could it really have been otherwise?
Anna Netrebko and Luca Salsi know each other so well on stage that watching them together has become almost unfair to the rest of the opera world. Their chemistry is explosive. Their phrasing feels natural, dangerous, alive. Put those two Verdian monsters together in a production clearly designed to elevate their strengths, and the result becomes almost physically overwhelming. After Macbeth and Don Carlo in Milan, Nabucco felt like the missing chapter in their Verdi story together.
And Netrebko… what more can honestly be said at this point?
For over twenty years she has been the prima donna of modern opera. Since that legendary La Traviata in Salzburg in 2005, she has carried opera into mainstream conversation like no other soprano of her generation. She fills theaters, starts debates, creates fascination wherever she goes. Two weeks ago I had the chance to hear her in Busseto, in the tiny Teatro Verdi surrounded by the spirit of the Maestro himself. Seeing her now at La Scala, in the most legendary opera house in the world, somehow made the experience even more emotional.
Luca Salsi was simply born for Verdi. There’s no other way to put it. His Nabucco has authority, rage, vulnerability and grandeur all at once. The voice cuts through the theater with terrifying ease, but what impresses most is the intelligence of his phrasing. He never just sings Verdi, he speaks Verdi.
Michele Pertusi confirms once again that he belongs among the greatest Zaccaria interpreters of today. I already found him extraordinary earlier this year in Naples alongside Tézier and Rebeka, but here, surrounded by Salsi and Netrebko, everything felt even bigger, darker, more monumental. His authority on stage is almost intimidating.
Francesco Meli brought elegance and heart to Ismaele. And yes, happy birthday dear Francesco. Anyone who knows him knows how deeply Verdi runs through his veins, and hearing him at La Scala in this repertoire simply feels right. His voice carries that unmistakable Italian warmth that makes Verdi sound like Verdi.
Special mention as well to Veronica Simeoni, a very solid Fenena who managed to shine despite standing next to what honestly felt like an all-star team of opera superheroes. Simon Lim once again proved how magnificent the Korean bass tradition has become at La Scala: huge voice, commanding presence, incredibly impressive sound.
And then… one of my biggest surprises of the evening.
The famous Ballabile from Nabucco.
Yes, somehow I had never heard it live before. Which proves that even when you spend your life obsessing over Verdi, he still finds ways to surprise you. Ten glorious minutes of music that I now officially want included in every future Nabucco production I attend, just like I always want the ballet in Otello.
Riccardo Chailly conducted all of this with immense class and precision. The orchestra sounded luxurious from beginning to end, but without ever becoming heavy. Everything breathed naturally, everything flowed with theatrical intelligence.
And then came Va, pensiero.
What can you even write about Va, pensiero at La Scala?
The silence before it.
The tension in the room.
The chorus rising like one single voice.
And then the explosion of applause afterward that seemed to last forever.
I genuinely had tears in my eyes.
Hearing this hymn of Italy inside the country’s most iconic theater, surrounded by an audience fully aware of the historical weight of the moment, is one of those experiences that reminds you opera is not just entertainment. Sometimes it becomes memory. Identity. Emotion.
La Scala gave us a true spectacle last night. Not just vocally, not just visually, but emotionally.
Now the wait begins again, December 7th. Otello. La Scala. See you very soon, Milan.
**************************************
CAST
Nabucodonosor Luca Salsi
Ismaele Francesco Meli
Abigaille Anna Netrebko
Zaccaria Michele Pertusi
Fenena Veronica Simeoni
Gran Sacerdote Simon Lim
Abdallo Haiyang Guo
Anna Laura Lolita Perešivana
–
Conductor RICCARDO CHAILLY
Staging ALESSANDRO TALEVI
Sets and costumes GARY MCCANN
Lights and Video designer MARCO GIUSTI
Choreography DANILO RUBECA
Acrobatic Movements and Special Effects RAN ARTHUR BRAUN
Illusionist / Magic effects MASTERS OF MAGIC
