Based on Biblical stories in the Books of Jeremiah and Daniel, this opera by Giuseppe Verdi was first performed at La Scala in Milan in 1842. The titular character is the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzer II, and the opera opens in Jerusalem in 583 B.C.E. The Babylonian army is advancing, and the Jewish population living in the city faces the prospect of persecution and exile from their homeland. There’s some general sacking of Jerusalem, romance, imprisonment, prophecies, mass execution, divine retribution, and at the end one repentant and mentally unhinged Babylonian monarch.
Today and Sunday at the RPL Theatre a production of Nabucco by London’s Royal Opera will be broadcast. Curtain both days is 2 p.m., and tickets are $15 Adults, $12 Seniors, Students $10. To give you a sense of what to expect, here’s an excerpt from an uncredited (on YouTube anyway) production featuring a famous scene with a chorus of Hebrew slaves: