Verdi’s Nabucco and Purim

By Steve Brummel

The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from a New York production

I recently took  my wife Marion to see an afternoon matinee of Verdi’s opera “Nabucco” at the Antwerp opera house.   It is about the Babylonian invasion of Israel around 586 BCE, the destruction of King Solomon’s Temple and the forced movement of many Jews to Babylon.  The storyline combines the Babylonian conquest and the subsequent Persian conquest and freeing of the Jews to return to Jerusalem. 

The major focus of the opera is the overwhelming desire of the “Hebrew Slaves” in Babylonian exile to return to Jerusalem. The most famous chorus from this opera is  “Va  Pensiero”, known in English as the “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves”.  After the opera’s premiere in 1842, this chorus quickly became the anthem of the emerging Italian national movement to unify Italy in the 19th Century.  “Va, Pensiero” also served as the proto-Zionist anthem for Jews in the later 19th Century before “Hatikva” was written.

At this performance to a full house, when “Va, Pensiero” was sung, it was the showstopper.  But more significantly, at the end of the opera, the chorus reappeared, scattered through the audience and began singing the “Va Pensiero” chorus again.  During the entire opera, subtitles in English and Dutch had been projected on screens above the stage.  But for this last choral, the words of the chorus were projected only in Italian and the whole audience started to sing along. It was a very powerful moment and the high point of the opera.  I add below the Italian text and an English translation.  I wonder if those in the audience took note of the meaning of the words they were singing.

Va, pensiero, sull’ali dorate; Va, ti posa sui clivi, sui colli, Ove olezzano tepide e molli L'aure dolci del suolo natal! Del Giordano le rive saluta, Di Sionne le torri atterrate... Oh mia patria s? bella e perduta! Oh membranza s? cara e fatal! Arpa d'or dei fatidici vati, Perch? muta dal salice pendi? Le memorie nel petto riaccendi, Ci favella del tempo che fu! O simile di Solima ai fatiT raggi un suono di crudo lamento, O t'ispiri il Signore un concento Che ne infonda al patire virt?!

Go, thoughts, on golden wings; Go, settle upon the slopes and hills, Where warm and soft and fragrant aret He breezes of our sweet native land! Greet the banks of the Jordan, The towers of Zion ... Oh my country so beautiful and lost! Or so dear yet unhappy! Or harp of the prophetic seers, Why do you hang silent from the willows?Rekindle the memories within our hearts, Tell us about the time that has gone by Or similar to the fate of Solomon, Give a sound of lament; Or let the Lord inspire a concert That may give to endure our suffering.

Travelling back to our house, we passed through the ultra-orthodox neighbourhoods of Antwerp. I could see kids dressed in all sorts of Purim costumes walking along the sidewalks in large groups. Nearby were plenty of Antwerp police in bright yellow vests to protect them.  A jump from 586 BC to 1842 to 2026 all in one afternoon

Link to Antwerp Opera House video explanation of the Va Pensiero chorus:

https://www.operaballet.be/nl/ontdek/het-slavenkoor