Three performances of the opera, a co-production by the Teatro de la Maestranza, the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg and Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, are scheduled to run in Luxembourg until 10 May. This marks Gaetano Lo Coco’s debut conducting the Luxembourg Philharmonic.
Following the premiere in February, the press was unanimously enthusiastic about Gaetano Lo Coco’s conducting as Music Director of the Flemish Opera: ‘Gaetano Lo Coco presents a precise, remarkably clear conducting style in the pit, without losing sight of Verdi's sound. Together with the singers, right down to the last member of the choir, he creates an impressive unity and makes this impressive evening possible,’ writes Der Opernfreund magazine. The Belgian daily newspaper De Standaard writes: ‘Musically, 29-year-old Gaetano Lo Coco delivers a mature performance: the conductor captures the straightforward power of Verdi's early style, but also keeps an eye on dramatic precision.’ The Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant concludes: ‘The choir and orchestra surpass themselves under the precise direction of Gaetano Lo Coco, a young conductor who has a natural feel for the rousing power of Verdi's music.’
Even in Verdi's day, the biblically inspired plot about a godlike ruler and the Babylonian exile of the Jewish people was perceived as highly political; the famous slave chorus was interpreted as a patriotic anthem and symbol of the unification of the Italian nation. In light of today's upheavals surrounding identity, religion, and nationalism, Brazilian director Christiane Jatahy interprets Nabucco against the backdrop of the current geopolitical reality of a new imperialism and forced migration.
Gaetano Lo Coco has a special relationship with Verdi's opera: he made his international debut in 2022 when he stepped in at short notice for a performance of Nabucco with Plácido Domingo, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Vienna State Opera Choir in Graz.
