Verdi’s admiration for Shakespeare led to such masterpieces as Othello and Falstaff, and if the earlier Macbeth isn’t on their exalted level it’s still a powerfully dramatic opera that hews closely to the original’s story line. The MET’s production retains the dark aura of the opera while updating it to a vaguely post-modern context. So the witches are bag ladies in various stages of decrepitude, with children in tow. The Banquet Scene features lowered chandeliers, a plethora of chairs, and a slew of extras dressed in tuxedos and party gowns. Macbeth sports a leather coat, the soldiers are in drab brown uniforms and seem to have fingers on their triggers even when they’re supposed to be in non-threatening situations. Director Adrian Noble also has Lady Macbeth do an inordinate amount of writhing around and singing from a lying-down position, adding to the feeling that a less interventionist directorial hand might have generated more impact.
Release Date : Apr 13, 2008
Production Company : The Metropolitan Opera, EMI
Production Countries : United States of America
Original Language : Italiano
Casts : Željko Lučić, John Relyea, Maria Guleghina, Elizabeth Blancke-Biggs, Dimitri Pittas, Mary Jo Heath, Richard Hobson, Raymond Renault, Russell Thomas, Adam Hauser Piñero, Keith Miller
Director :
Status : Released
Budget : 0
Revenue : 0
