Nabucco

This is the opera that made Verdi famous overnight, performed here with the all-star cast that introduced the work to the Met shortly before this broadcast. Thomas Schippers' superb conducting galvanized the Met orchestra and chorus, to say nothing of the magnificent soloists, headed by Cornell MacNeil as the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, who loses his throne to his demented, scheming daughter, played by a blazing Leonie Rysanek. Majestic bass Cesare Siepi is the high priest Zaccaria. The opera is still a rarity and this rendition is legendary.