Today, Saturday 18 July, at 9pm, the spotlights will turn on the immense rock embrace of the Greek Theater of Syracuse for a staging of Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco destined to remain engraved in the memory. One of the most important events included in the program of the Opera Festival of the Teatri di Pietra and organized by the Sicilian Opera Choir. The event promises to be of exceptional historical significance: it is in fact the only, exclusive opera title included in the programming of the 2026 summer season inside the Arethusean temple, as well as an extraordinary premiere performance in recent times in the Syracuse cavea, restoring the theater to its natural and noblest dramaturgical vocation.
The prestigious and passionate baton of the Spanish conductor Salvador Vázquez will rise to the podium of the Festival’s resident Symphony Orchestra, called upon to release all the energy and vigor of Verdi’s score.
The star of world opera, the soprano Elena Mosuc, makes a historic debut in the dramatic and iconic role of Abigaille. A highly anticipated interpretation that marks the vocal peak of Syracuse’s production.
– Mrs Mosuc, the debut in the role of Abigaille is one of the most impervious peaks for a dramatic soprano of agility. Why did you choose the stone of the Greek Theater of Syracuse for this historic appointment in your career?
«Abigaille is a mythical role, almost frightening due to its vocal difficulty and its dynamic range: it requires passages of pure dramatic strength alternating with agility and very fine threads. Choosing to debut it in Syracuse, in this immense outdoor space, is a challenge within a challenge. The thousand-year-old stone has extraordinary natural acoustics, but also demands absolute interpretative truth. Here the ancient myth is not recited, it is lived.”
– How did you unravel the complex psychology of this character, divided between the thirst for absolute power and the desperate fragility of an unloved daughter?
«Abigaille is often portrayed only as a ruthless and vengeful warrior, but in reality she is a deeply wounded woman. She discovers that she is a slave, feels rejected by her father Nabucco and is not reciprocated in love by Ismaele. His aggression is the shield of a broken soul. Together with the director, we worked to give the public not an evil monster, but a tragic, proud and vulnerable woman, whose self-destructive parable is fulfilled in a final request for forgiveness.”
But the entire cast is of an exceptional level. From the legendary stages of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Bolshoi in Moscow, the famous international baritone Badral Chuluunbaatar arrives in the immense rock embrace of the Greek Theater of Syracuse.
«It’s an emotion that almost takes your breath away. Singing in traditional theaters is wonderful, but here in Syracuse time seems to disappear completely. You’re not just on a stage: you’re immersed in history. Hearing your own voice reflected on the thousand-year-old stone, under the starry sky, gives Verdi’s drama an almost mystical truth and sacredness. I believe that for an artist this is the maximum point of contact with the eternity of art.»
– Nabucco is an extremely complex character: a tyrant ruler, a ruthless warrior who experiences madness, paternal pain and finally redemption. How did you work on the psychology of the character for this specific production?
«Nabucco is a titanic but profoundly fragile monarch. His real challenge is not against his enemies, but against himself and the divine. Together with director Salvo Dolce we tried to highlight its most intimate and psychological dimension. We didn’t want a cardboard king, but a tormented man, torn by ambition and love for his daughters. His madness becomes a catharsis. In a space as immense and monumental as the cavea aretusea, every gesture and every vocal accent must delve into the soul to be credible and powerful.»
– This performance marks a premiere in recent times for the opera in Syracuse, the only opera title of the 2026 summer season. Do you feel responsible for this historic return?
«Very much, and it is a wonderful responsibility. Giving back to the Greek Theater of Syracuse its natural dramaturgical vocation through Verdi’s youthful masterpiece is a great cultural operation carried out by the Lyric Festival of the Teatri di Pietra. The public knows that they will witness a unique, unrepeatable event. We all feel the electricity and sacredness of this debut.”