Saturday 30 April 2011
Tune of the Day: Nabucco Overture
by Giuseppe Verdi, arranged for solo flute
Like most of Verdi's opera overtures, the overture to Nabucco is a potpourri of themes, most of which reappear in the opera. After a stately introduction in the brass and a more sinister transition based on the “Il maledetto” chorus from Act II, Verdi spins a gentle variation on the famous chorus “Va', pensiero”, in which the Jewish exiles in Babylon express their yearning to return to their homeland.