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One of the highlights of the summer season at the Royal Opera House this year is this powerhouse production of Verdi's wonderful Nabucco.

Join us for a Saturday evening performance of the opera which permanently established Verdi's reputation as a composer.

http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/3/c/c/1/600_447975553.jpeg Daniele Abbado’s production explores the reality of conflict, where friend and enemy may become indistinguishable.

An enormous chorus lends weight to grandiose numbers such as the Hebrew Slaves’ triumphant hymn of thanksgiving and their song of exile, ‘Va, pensiero’, widely considered to be Italy’s unofficial national anthem.

MEETING

Message from Antony, group organiser (07765 263601):

Collect your ticket from me on the day from 6.15pm. Meet on Bow Street, outside the entrance as on the photo below - meeting point marked M. I will be wearing a black cap. Arrive by 6.50pm at the latest. Note the Bow Street entrance is the only one available, there is no access via Covent Garden market square.

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SEATING

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Side slip seats are high and near the stage. With first choice before they go on general sale, we obtain better positions and sight lines. Numbers are strictly limited to the seats that I consider acceptable.

These tickets will sell immediately when public sales open. They are subsidised to allow access to all and thus at under £20 they offer incredible value.

From The Guardian on the Opera House side slip experience: "I pick up on the hidden advantages of this high spot where, if I stood up and stretched, I could almost touch the ceiling. From up here, the epic scale of the building is revealed in all its multi-tiered, maroon-and-gold glory…. "

A restricted view of the stage BUT all the atmosphere of the evening and reputedly, being over the orchestra, the best acoustics!

The performance will be sung in Italian with English surtitles.

Starts: 7pm.

Running time: 2 hrs 50 mins, including one interval

NOTE: We have unrestricted view seats also (click here (http://www.meetup.com/Lets-Do-London/events/229693845/)).

PRICE

To join this event - £16.50 including meetup / paypal fees.

Ticket value: £14

These are the higher of the two bands for the upper side slips. We will be sat together.

20 places only

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BACKGROUND

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The resulting opera was a triumph – first performed in 1842, it was revived the same year with a run of 57 shows. As Verdi wrote: ‘with this opera, it can truly be said that my artistic career began.’

STORY:

Nabucco, King of Babylon, takes Jerusalem in his war with the Israelites.

But his daughter Fenena loves the Israelite Ismaele. She releases their prisoners, leading her vengeful half-sister Abigaille to plot to take power.

Historical events are used as background for a romantic and political plot. The best-known number from the opera is the "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves", "Fly, thought, on golden wings", a chorus which is regularly given an encore in many opera houses when performed today.

ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

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The Royal Opera, under the direction of Antonio Pappano, is one of the world’s leading opera companies. Based in the iconic Covent Garden theatre, it is renowned both for its outstanding performances of traditional opera and for commissioning new works by today’s leading opera composers, such as Harrison Birtwistle, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Thomas Adès.

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Some of the world's most famous singers have performed with the Company, including Plácido Domingo, Angela Gheorghiu, Anna Netrebko, Renée Fleming, Bryn Terfel, Jonas Kaufmann, Rolando Villazón and Juan Diego Flórez, as well as the late Luciano Pavarotti and Joan Sutherland.

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Antony

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