San Diego Opera’s 45th International Season continues with Nabucco, the second opera of the season which opens this Saturday, Feb. 20. Considered to be Verdi’s first masterpiece, Nabucco has not been performed in San Diego since 1981.

San Diego Opera’s General Director and Artistic Director, Ian Campbell, announced late last month that Serbian baritone Îeljko Luãiç has withdrawn from his engagement in the title role of Nabucco for private and personal reasons.

“Îeljko was looking forward to his debut with the Company and feels terrible about withdrawing. He apologizes to our patrons for his inability to appear,” Campbell said. “We sometimes forget that opera singers are human and other factors can make it impossible to rehearse and perform.” Fortunately, Richard Paul Fink was available to begin rehearsals with the cast soon after and will take the stage when Verdi’s Nabucco opens this Saturday, for four performances.

The international career of American baritone Richard Paul Fink has taken him to The Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Paris Opéra-Bastille, The Salzburg Festival, Teatro Muncipal in Chile, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera, among others. His roles include the title roles in Macbeth and Rigoletto, as well as Scarpia in Tosca, Amonsaro in Aida, Alberich in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Kurwenal in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and John Teller in Doctor Atomic.

“Since his last appearances for San Diego Opera in Carmen, Eugene Onegin and The Merry Widow, Richard has established himself as one of America’s finest baritones, and it is wonderful to have him back with us,” adds Campbell. “He joins Sylvie Valayre as Abigaille, and Raymond Aceto as Zaccaria. With Edoardo Müller’s conducting and Lotfi Mansouri’s direction, this is certain to be an exciting evening in the theatre.”

Performed in Italian with English translations above the stage, Nabucco begins with an assault on Jerusalem by Nabbuco’s army.

The Jews have taken Fenena, Nabucco’s youngest daughter, hostage in an attempt to keep his armies at bay. Fenena is entrusted to Ismaele, the son of the King of Jerusalem, but the two of them are in love. Leading Nabucco’s armies is his elder daughter, Abigaille, who also loves Ismaele. When Nabucco arrives at the Temple, the high priest Zaccaria threatens to kill Fenena but Ismaele intervenes to save her.

In the ensuing chaos Nabucco orders the temple destroyed and Isamaele is branded a traitor by the Jews. The Jews now in exile, Abigaille discovers she is not Nabucco’s true daughter and plots a coup to place herself on the throne by overthrowing Fenena who has converted to Judaism and has helped reconcile Ismaele with the Jews.

Meanwhile, Nabucco has visions of grandeur and declares himself a god. He is hit by a lightning bolt and knocked senseless. Abigaille issues a decree of death for the Jews including Fenena but Nabucco, still weakened by the lightning bolt, pleads for his younger daughter’s life but regains his strength and reason at the sight of Fenena being led to her death in chains. Nabucco asks the Jews for forgiveness and commits a final act that will free them.

Filled with a gripping plot, and some of the most beautiful music ever composed, including the famed chorus of the Hebrew slaves “Va, pensiero, sull’ali dorate” (“Fly, thought, on golden wings”) Nabucco will dazzle San Diego Opera audiences.

Verdi’s Nabucco

Produced by San Diego Opera

Performance schedule:

Saturday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 26, at 8 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 28, at 2 p.m.

Where: San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown

Tickets: $35-$200

Phone: 619-533-7000

Online: www.sdopera.com