Alberto Comes makes his role debut as Zaccaria in Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco at the Macerata Opera Festival. Performances take place at the Arena Sferisterio in Macerata on 14, 17, and 26 July and 1 and 9 August 2026.
Fabrizio Maria Carminati conducts the new production, directed by Paul-Émile Fourny and presented in co-production with Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini. The cast includes Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar as Nabucco, Anastasia Bartoli as Abigaille, Alessandro Scotto di Luzio as Ismaele, and Laura Verrecchia as Fenena.
Performance Details
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Opera | Nabucco |
| Composer | Giuseppe Verdi |
| Role | Zaccaria |
| Artist | Alberto Comes |
| Festival | Macerata Opera Festival |
| Venue | Arena Sferisterio, Macerata |
| Dates | 14, 17, and 26 July; 1 and 9 August 2026 |
| Time | 21:00 |
| Conductor | Fabrizio Maria Carminati |
| Stage director | Paul-Émile Fourny |
| Production | New production |
| Co-production | Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini |
| Orchestra | FORM-Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana |
| Chorus | Coro Lirico Marchigiano “Vincenzo Bellini” |
| Chorus director | Christian Starinieri |
Zaccaria is one of the defining bass roles in Verdi’s early operas. As the spiritual leader of the Hebrews, he anchors the work’s collective drama and gives voice to its themes of faith, resistance, identity, and freedom. The role requires vocal breadth, textual authority, and the ability to lead Verdi’s large-scale choral writing while remaining a central dramatic presence.
The Macerata engagement marks an important development in Comes’s Verdi repertoire. His previous roles include Wurm in Luisa Miller and Pistola in Falstaff, while his 2026 engagements also include Ramfis in Aida at the Gran Teatro Nacional. His debut as Zaccaria adds a more expansive and dramatically central assignment to this progression.
The production features sets by Benito Leonori, costumes by Giovanna Fiorentini, video by Mario Spinaci, choreography by Giorgia Leonardi, and lighting by Ludovico Gobbi. The performance also involves the AMS – Helvia Recina Ensemble.
Presented in the open-air setting of the Arena Sferisterio, Nabucco places the opera’s ceremonial scale, political conflict, and prominent choral writing at the centre of the festival experience.
Explore Alberto Comes’s complete biography, his Verdi’s repertoire including Pietro in Simon Boccanegra at Teatro La Fenice, selected medias and his opera engagements.