In recent years, few works have evoked such intense emotion from the audience as the rediscovery of Michelangelo Falvetti’s Il Diluvio Universale (1642-1692). The incredible beauty of the music by this previously forgotten composer has touched all who have encountered it.

Encouraged by this success, the exuberant conductor Leonardo García-Alarcón has undertaken the creation of another unpublished work composed in 1683 by Michelangelo Falvetti for the Cathedral of Messina: Nabucco. A precursor to Giuseppe Verdi’s first masterpiece written 130 years later, this Nabucco by Falvetti is a work that straddles the line between historical oratorio and dramma per musica. One of its central figures is Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, who invades Jerusalem and deports its population. Indeed, this Nabucco can be seen as a political tool of resistance by the Sicilians against Spanish oppression.

The richness and impact of Falvetti’s musical writing heard in Il Diluvio Universale is constantly equaled, if not surpassed, in Nabucco. The introduction evoking the course of the Euphrates River sweeps the listener into a musical experience where the most dazzling Baroque instruments (harp, theorbos) coexist with the oriental sounds of the ney and kaval (oblique flutes), the duduk (a double reed instrument like the oboe), and Iranian percussion. The magnificent seven-part choirs exemplify this technical and harmonic richness capable of overwhelming the listener. Leonardo García-Alarcón’s involvement allows the voices to flourish fully, making the vengeful choirs of the People of Israel roar, while moving to tears with soloists' laments worthy of Monteverdi.

The electrifying direction of Leonardo García-Alarcón, and the total commitment of his performers (intense choir and dazzling soloists), magnificently serve Nabucco, a rich and contrasting score, subtle and sensual, which revives the drama as a true sacred opera!

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