The Scottish Opera
Giuseppe Verdi: Macbeth, The Met in HD, Phoenix Picturehouse, Oxford, 14 October 2014.
The new season of operas transmitted Live from the Met opened with a revival of Adrian Noble’s 2007 production of Verdi’s Macbeth. It was seen in the encore on 14 October. With a dream cast, it marked Anna Netrebko’s first appearance in the role of Lady Macbeth. She was the brightest star in a constellation which included Željko Lučić in the title role, René Pape (Banquo) and Joseph Calleja (Macduff).
The art of turning a great work of literature or drama into an opera is akin to food processing: the ingredients of the original text are transformed into something different, bringing out various flavours and textures. In the result the ingredients may be more or less recognisable. The greatest operas stand on their own without reference to the original, while others are more straightforward transcriptions of the story to the operatic stage – more like a musical. Unlike his final two operas Falstaff and Otello which are thoroughly digested versions of their sources, Macbeth, almost the last of ‘early Verdi’ remains close to Shakespeare: an alternative title to the above would be Macbeth – the Musical. The most obvious departures are the replacement of the three Weird Sisters by three female choruses of witches and the absence of the scene for the night porter awakened by the knocking following the discovery of Duncan’s murder. (A rather strange omission.)
I first saw this opera in a Glyndebourne on Tour in Oxford in 1973 in a ‘Noggin the Nog’ production totally suited to the bouncy rhythms of the score. In Savonlinna, Finland in 1996, the background ramparts of St Olaf’s Castle formed the ideal setting in what seemed at the time to be a definitive production. The less said the better about Richard Jones awful version for Glyndebourne in 2007. The worst, most irritating thing about The Met’s transmission was the subtitles. Rather than use Shakespeare’s lines, they were a back-translation from the libretto into prosaic English (and not even an accurate translation according to an Italian companion).
The curtain rises on the Witches’ Chorus, with a crowded stage so that the three sections could not be distinguished, with the witches in modern dress carrying handbags providing sources of light, a scene which an early critic likened (not unfairly) to Monty Python’s Flying Circus. I have remarked before that The Met Chorus is too large and could be a source of economy in their parlous financial state – if the Unions would allow it. After Macbeth and Banquo have received their prophesies, the scene switches to Lady Macbeth’s boudoir where she is reading the letter from her husband which sets in train the plot to murder King Duncan. Disguised as a trophy wife in a blonde wig and voluptuous curves, Netrebko makes a chilling entry of pure evil giving an acting performance of her life far excelling her previous Met roles seen in HD and in her many YouTube appearances. Her secret, disclosed in her intermission interview, is to regard Lady M as just another strong housewife seeking by all means to promote her husband’s career in return for the reflected glory on her own position. Thus, in the banquet scene where Macbeth sees Banquo’s Ghost (terrifyingly portrayed in blood-soaked shirt by René Pape), her concern is more the social embarrassment than care for her husband or for Banquo. After the interval, Macbeth is driven to more atrocities after again consulting the witches and the scene then moves to the Scottish border where Macduff rallies the refugee Scots in a scene in resonance with newsreel of recent events in the Middle East. Here the voices of Lučić and Calleja dominate the climax of the opera superbly, individually and together. The whole performance was supported by orchestral playing of the highest order, the conductorFabio Luisi a true Verdian.
Giuseppe Verdi: Macbeth, The Met in HD, Phoenix Picturehouse, Oxford, 14 October 2014.
The new season of operas transmitted Live from the Met opened with a revival of Adrian Noble’s 2007 production of Verdi’s Macbeth. It was seen in the encore on 14 October. With a dream cast, it marked Anna Netrebko’s first appearance in the role of Lady Macbeth. She was the brightest star in a constellation which included Željko Lučić in the title role, René Pape (Banquo) and Joseph Calleja (Macduff).
The art of turning a great work of literature or drama into an opera is akin to food processing: the ingredients of the original text are transformed into something different, bringing out various flavours and textures. In the result the ingredients may be more or less recognisable. The greatest operas stand on their own without reference to the original, while others are more straightforward transcriptions of the story to the operatic stage – more like a musical. Unlike his final two operas Falstaff and Otello which are thoroughly digested versions of their sources, Macbeth, almost the last of ‘early Verdi’ remains close to Shakespeare: an alternative title to the above would be Macbeth – the Musical. The most obvious departures are the replacement of the three Weird Sisters by three female choruses of witches and the absence of the scene for the night porter awakened by the knocking following the discovery of Duncan’s murder. (A rather strange omission.)
I first saw this opera in a Glyndebourne on Tour in Oxford in 1973 in a ‘Noggin the Nog’ production totally suited to the bouncy rhythms of the score. In Savonlinna, Finland in 1996, the background ramparts of St Olaf’s Castle formed the ideal setting in what seemed at the time to be a definitive production. The less said the better about Richard Jones awful version for Glyndebourne in 2007. The worst, most irritating thing about The Met’s transmission was the subtitles. Rather than use Shakespeare’s lines, they were a back-translation from the libretto into prosaic English (and not even an accurate translation according to an Italian companion).
The curtain rises on the Witches’ Chorus, with a crowded stage so that the three sections could not be distinguished, with the witches in modern dress carrying handbags providing sources of light, a scene which an early critic likened (not unfairly) to Monty Python’s Flying Circus. I have remarked before that The Met Chorus is too large and could be a source of economy in their parlous financial state – if the Unions would allow it. After Macbeth and Banquo have received their prophesies, the scene switches to Lady Macbeth’s boudoir where she is reading the letter from her husband which sets in train the plot to murder King Duncan. Disguised as a trophy wife in a blonde wig and voluptuous curves, Netrebko makes a chilling entry of pure evil giving an acting performance of her life far excelling her previous Met roles seen in HD and in her many YouTube appearances. Her secret, disclosed in her intermission interview, is to regard Lady M as just another strong housewife seeking by all means to promote her husband’s career in return for the reflected glory on her own position. Thus, in the banquet scene where Macbeth sees Banquo’s Ghost (terrifyingly portrayed in blood-soaked shirt by René Pape), her concern is more the social embarrassment than care for her husband or for Banquo. After the interval, Macbeth is driven to more atrocities after again consulting the witches and the scene then moves to the Scottish border where Macduff rallies the refugee Scots in a scene in resonance with newsreel of recent events in the Middle East. Here the voices of Lučić and Calleja dominate the climax of the opera superbly, individually and together. The whole performance was supported by orchestral playing of the highest order, the conductorFabio Luisi a true Verdian.