Met Opera Debuted Moshinsky's Staging of Verdi's Nabucco March 8, 2001

Summary: The Metropolitan Opera debuted Australian opera director Elijah Moshinsky's new staging of Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco on Thursday, March 8, 2001.

Menorcan dramatic baritone Juan Pons sang the title role in the Thursday, March 8, 2001, debut of Australian opera director Elijah Moshinsky's new production of 19th-century opera composer Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco: Juan Pons -- Baritone, via Facebook Feb. 2, 2015

Australian opera director Elijah Moshinsky's new staging of Nabucco by 19th-century Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) debuted in the 2000-2001 season at the Metropolitan Opera on Thursday, March 8, 2001.

The new production by Elijah Moshinsky (Jan. 8, 1946-Jan. 14, 2021) replaced the production directed by German opera director Günther Rennert (April 1, 1911-July 31, 1978) for the Old Testament-based Verdian opera's Metropolitan Opera premiere Monday, Oct. 24, 1960. Günther Rennert had made his Met Opera debut in his new Nabucco production. Rennert's staging received 14 performances in the 1960-1961 season but slid into inactivity thereafter. Elijah Moshinsky made his Met Opera debut Monday, Feb. 4, 1980, in the opera company's 153rd performance of Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera.

Moshinsky's production debuted in the opera company's 15th performance of Nabucco. The new staging received nine performances in its debut season. The second through ninth performances took place Monday, March 12; Friday, March 16; Tuesday, March 20; Saturday, March 24; Wednesday, March 28; Saturday, March 31; Tuesday, April 3; and Friday, April 6.

Elijah Moshinsky's production team comprised John Napier, set designer; Andreane Neofitou, costume designer; and Howard Harrison, lighting designer. English costume and set designer John Napier (born March 1, 1944) and Cyprus-born, London-raised costume designer Andreane Neofitou made their Met Opera debuts in the new production. British lighting designer Howard Harrison had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Jan. 11, 1996, in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of The Makropulos Case, composed by Czech composer Leoš Janáček (July 3, 1854-Aug. 12, 1928) and directed by Elijah Moshinsky.

James Levine (June 23, 1943-March 9, 2021), Met Opera's Music Director 1976-2016, conducted all nine performances of Nabucco in the 2000-2001 season. The American conductor had made his Met Opera debut Saturday, June 5, 1971, in the opera company's 539th performance of Tosca by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

Juan Pons (Joan Pons Álvarez; born Aug. 8, 1946) sang the title role in the first through fifth and seventh through closing, ninth performances. The Menorcan dramatic baritone had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Jan. 4, 1983, as Count Di Luna in the opera company's 484th performance of Verdi's Il Trovatore.

Juan Pons shared the title role with Frederick Burchinal, who appeared in the sixth performance. The American operatic baritone had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, March 8, 2001, as an English Clerk in the Met Opera-hosted United States Premiere of Death in Venice by Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (Nov. 22, 1913-Dec. 4, 1976).

Maria Guleghina (born Maria Agasovna Meytardjan; born Aug. 9, 1959) appeared in the first, second, fourth, fifth and seventh through closing, ninth performances as Abigaille, who discovers that she was not princess-born, but slave-born. The Soviet-born Armenian-Ukrainian operatic soprano had made her Met Opera debut Jan. 3, 1991, as Maddalena in the opera company's 150th performance of Andrea Chénier by Italian composer Umberto Giordano (Aug. 28, 1867-Nov. 12, 1948).

Maria Guleghina shared the role with Andrea Gruber (born Nov. 28, 1966), who sang Abigaille in the third and sixth performances. The American dramatic soprano had made her Met Opera debut Saturday, April 21, 1990, as the Third Norn in the opera company's 208th performance of Götterdämmerung by 19th-century German composer and librettist Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883).

Francisco Casanova (Oct. 3, 1957-Sep. 26, 2019) appeared in the first five performances as Ismaele, nephew of the King of Jerusalem, who is in a love triangle of reciprocal love with Babylonian Princess Fenena and of one-sided love from Princess Abigaille. The Dominican tenor had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2001, in the title role of Manrico in the opera company's 580th performance of Verdi's Il Trovatore.

Francisco Casanova shared the role with Gwyn Hughes Jones (born Oct. 25, 1969), who sang Ismaele in the sixth through closing, ninth performances. The Welsh operatic tenor made his Met Opera debut in the production's sixth performance.

Wendy White (born 1953) appeared in the first two and last three performances as Babylonian Princess Fenena, who reciprocates Ismaele's love and whose purportedly older sister, Abigaille, turns out to have born slave-born, not princess-born. The American mezzo-soprano had made her Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 16, 1989, as Flora in the opera company's 731st performance of Verdi's Traviata.

Wendy White shared the role with Marianna Tarassova (born April 12, 1968), who sang Princess Fenena in the third through sixth performances. The Russian mezzo-soprano had made her Met Opera debut Thursday, March 13, 1997, as Olga in the opera company's 104th performance of Eugene Onegin by Russian late Romantic era composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840-Nov. 6, 1893).

Samuel Ramey (born March 28, 1942) sang Zaccaria, High Priest of the Jews, in all nine performances. The American operatic bass had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Jan. 19, 1984, as Argante in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Rinaldo by German-British baroque composer George Frideric Handel (Feb. 23, 1685-April 14, 1759).

Alexandra Deshorties (born 1975) sang Anna, High Priest Zaccaria's sister, in all nine performances. The French-Canadian soprano had made her Met Opera debut as the Priestess in the opera company's 1,040th performance of Verdi's Aida.

Stephen Morscheck sang the Babylonian High Priest of Bel (Ba'al) in all nine performances. The American bass-baritone had made his Met Opera debut two months earlier, on Monday, Jan. 8, 2001, as Spirit Voice Levis in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Doktor Faust by Italian composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni (April 1, 1866-July 27, 1924).

Rafael Suarez appeared in all performances as Abdallo, a Babylonian soldier who reiterates as a factual announcement the High Priest of Bel's untrue rumor of King Nabucco's death and who also correctly announces Abigaille's rebellion, which brings about her Queenship. The tenor had made his Met Opera debut alongside Stephen Morscheck in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Busoni's Doktor Faust.

Moshinsky's new production skipped the following, 2001-2002 season. The production's first revival happened in the 2002-2003 season, one season after its debut.

English costume and set designer John Napier made his Met Opera debut in the 2000-2001 season as set designer of Australian opera director Elijah Moshinsky's new production of Verdi's Nabucco; 2016 image of John Napier at 2016 exhibition of his designs for "Starlight Express," a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber (Baron Lloyd-Webber since Tuesday, Feb. 18, 1997; born March 22, 1948), and British lyricist Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe (Sir Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe since 2012; born March 28, 1943) that opened Tuesday, March 27, 1984, and closed Saturday, Jan. 12, 2002, at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre: Belle Pullman / Starlight Express Wiki, CC BY-SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Menorcan dramatic baritone Juan Pons sang the title role in the Thursday, March 8, 2001, debut of Australian opera director Elijah Moshinsky's new production of 19th-century opera composer Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco: Juan Pons -- Baritone, via Facebook Feb. 2, 2015, @ https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10155189074015301&id=256500935300

English costume and set designer John Napier made his Met Opera debut in the 2000-2001 season as set designer of Australian opera director Elijah Moshinsky's new production of Verdi's Nabucco; 2016 image of John Napier at 2016 exhibition of his designs for "Starlight Express," a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber (Baron Lloyd-Webber since Tuesday, Feb. 18, 1997; born March 22, 1948), and British lyricist Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe (Sir Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe since 2012; born March 28, 1943) that opened Tuesday, March 27, 1984, and closed Saturday, Jan. 12, 2002, at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre: Belle Pullman / Starlight Express Wiki, CC BY-SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Napier_Exhibition_2016_Starlight_Express.jpg

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