John Dalmas <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Yesterday afternoon at the Metropolitan Opera performance of Nabucco, the
>famous chorus "Va, pensiero" that opens Part III of the Verdi opera was
>repeated in its entirety following thunderous, sustained applause.  At the
>end of the opera, the announcer on the radio commented that this was a rare
>honor at the Met.
>
>Does anyone know if this is true? In all my years going to the Met I never
>witnessed a repeat.  ...

I don't know about the Met, but I'm told this happened at the premiere
of the opera.  So maybe repeating this particular number is part of a
tradition going back the the first performance, perpetuated even in places
where instant encores don't usually happen - rather like standing for the
Hallelujah Chorus in the "Messiah".

Virginia Knight
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Personal homepage: http://www.ilrt.bris.ac.uk/~ggvhk/virginia.html