Reactions from Gothenburg Opera in the past have been almost uniformly positive: Gösta Nyström's Herr Arne’s Penningar (ON May 2022), Walküre (January 2022), Siegfried (May/June 2021) and Götterdämmerung (February 2022) all spring to mind. This Nabucco (my third Verdi opera in a week after Rigoletto at Holland Park and Trovatore at Covent Garden) was much like the other two, as it happens – a mixed affair.

Nabucco is a rarity on Swedish stages: its Swedish premiere was in 1965 in Stockholm. Here in Gothenberg, director Jacopo Spirei places the opera in a civil war, with sets by Mauro Tinti. We see initially a parliamentary meeting room. Nabucco is a rebel leader; Zaccharia becomes the leader of an underground resistance. Abigaille is a rock chick, clad in black leather, feisty in all her actions, set against the corporate garb of Ismaele and Fenena (the carefully considered costumes are by Silvia Aymonino). Nabucco, too, is in black (plus a touch of bling), while Zaccaria comes across as a sort of mad professor.

Mats Persson, Zoya Tsererina, Daniel Hayes | Photo by Lennart Sjöberg

Before crediting the soloists, it is worth pointing out the real star of this performance was Gothenburg Opera’s chorus. Every time they sang, it was so beautifully balanced and powerful, regardless of dynamic. The famous ‘Va pensiero,’ sung in a prison forecourt behind wire mesh, was unforgettable. The orchestra, too, provided moments of exceptional beauty, the lower brass of the overture, the exposed cellos later in the opera just two examples. For conductor Giancarlo Andretta, this was very much a lyrical performance.

Mats Almgren is a truly great Wagnerian and he commands the stage with his glorious (if sometimes heavily vibratoed) voice. But this did rather sound like a Wagnerian singing Verdi - but it meant that 'Come notte e sol fulgente’ was awesome in the true meaning of the world. The Fenena, Ann-Kristin Jones, was superb in the earlier parts of the opera. It was a pity that her fourth act aria, ‘Oh dischiuso e il fermamento' did not quite live up to expectations, not quite as controlled as one might have hoped. Ismaele, tenor Tomas Lind, was rather underpowered and throaty, and if Zoya Tsererina’s Abigaille looked rock hard, her voice did not quite reflect this. Her low range was lacking, in contrast to a faultless, cutting high register.

Mats Persson | Photo by Lennart Sjöberg

And while Nabucco himself, Mats Persson, looked the part of the hardened dissident, he was not always properly audible. His mad scene, despite sudden changes in lighting courtesy of lighting designer Giuseppe di Iorio, simply did not convince. And as with Abigaile, Persson’s voice did not match the role (or the ‘hard man’ clothing, for that matter), plus his acting was frequently studied. Daniel Hayes’ High Priest of Baal was strong and imposing - the experienced Mia Karlsson was a fine Anna.

A mixed evening, then. And having heard the Swedish Radio broadcast of the opening night of May 20, this on June 7 was noticeably tighter in pit/chorus/soloist co-ordination. Andretta is a top-flight conductor and he knitted the evening together brilliantly.