Which Verdi opera contains the chorus “Va, pensiero”?”

Nabucco contains Giuseppe Verdi’s famous chorus “Va, pensiero.”

The opera premiered at Milan’s La Scala on 9 March 1842, with a libretto by Temistocle Solera. Its story concerns the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II and the Israelites held captive in Babylon. “Va, pensiero,” sung by the exiled Hebrews, expresses longing for their homeland and for freedom.

The chorus became closely associated with Italian ideas of national unity during the Risorgimento, although historians caution against treating every audience reaction as a simple political slogan. Verdi’s name was also used in the phrase “Viva VERDI,” which could be read both as support for the composer and as coded support for Vittorio Emanuele Re D’Italia.

Nabucco helped restore Verdi’s career after a difficult personal period and established him as a major Italian opera composer. The chorus is often called “The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves,” though its Italian title is “Va, pensiero.”