Few roles in the Verdi repertoire are as unforgiving as Abigaille. Written for a voice that must plunge into dark chest notes one moment and blaze above the orchestra the next, the role of Nabucco’s ambitious “daughter” has broken more than one soprano. It is precisely in this part that Nadège Meden caught the attention of the French specialist press.
“It is also an opportunity to discover Nadège Meden, a great lyricist full of potential – and aplomb, in an Abigaille with a striking high register.”
Clément Demeure, Forum Opéra
A role at the heart of her repertoire
For Nadège Meden, Abigaille is more than a vocal challenge: it is a dramatic portrait of power, wounded pride and, in the final scene, redemption. Her approach rests on what has become the signature of her work – a search for dramatic continuity, vocal colour and expressive tension, sustained across the whole arc of the character rather than delivered as a string of showpieces.
The role sits naturally alongside the other great Verdian heroines she sings or studies – Aida, Leonora in Il trovatore, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Elisabeth de Valois in Don Carlo – and reflects the training she pursued in Italy, where she reached the final round of the Accademia Voci Verdiane selection at the Teatro Regio di Parma.
About the production
[À COMPLÉTER : lieu, date, chef, metteur en scène et distribution de la production de Nabucco – à demander à Nadège.]
Watch Nadège Meden sing “Ben io t’invenni… Anch’io dischiuso un giorno” →
