http://www.vivalavoce.com/?nid=26&sid=178252

Wednesday, February 9, 2005

Macbeth Giuseppe Verdi Opera in four acts.
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, after the play by Shakespeare.

First performance at the Teatro della Pergola,
Florence, on 14th March 1847.

Characters

Macbeth (baritone)
Banco [Banquo], his fellow-general (bass)
Duncano (Duncan), King of Scotland (silent rôle)
Lady Macbeth, Macbeth's wife (soprano)
Lady-in-waiting to Lady Macbeth (mezzo-soprano)
Macduff, lord of Fife (tenor)
Malcolm, Duncan's son (tenor)
Fleanzio [Fleance], Banquo's son (silent rôle)
Servant (bass)
Doctor (bass)
Murderer (bass)
Ghost of Banco [Banquo] (silent rôle)
Herald (bass)

Cast

Leo Nucci [Macbeth] ** Samuel Ramey [Banco]
Shirley Verrett [Lady Macbeth] ** Anna Caterina Antonacci [Dama]
Veriano Luchetti [Macduff] ** Antonio Barasorda [Malcolm]
Sergio Fontana [Medico] ** Gianfranco Casarini [Servo]
Gastone Sarti [Sicario] ** Giuseppe Morresi [Araldo]
Natale de Carolis [Prima apparizione]
Barbara Briscik [Seconda apparizione]
Marco Fanti [Terza apparizione]

Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna [Streghe, messaggeri del re,
nobili e profughi scozzesi, sicari, soldati inglesi, bardi]

Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna ** Riccardo Chailly (conductor)

London 417.525 (02:17:38)

Synopsis

<<Shakespeare's three witches become a chorus of witches who greet
Macbeth and Banquo with their prophecies. Lady Macbeth reads the letter
from her husband that announces the coming of Duncan, who is murdered as
he sleeps. The first act ends with Macduff's announcement of the murder.
In the second act Macbeth, jealous of the future prophesied for Banquo's
posterity, goes on to procure the murder of Banquo, whose ghost appears
to haunt him. The third act brings the witches back, with an additional
ballet for the French version of the opera given in Paris in 1865. The
witches summon up apparitions that tell Macbeth what lies in store for
him. The fourth act opens on the English border, where Malcolm leads a
force against Macbeth. This is followed by the sleep-walking scene for
Lady Macbeth, herself a prey, like her husband, to conscience. Malcolm's
soldiers, camouflaged under branches, bring Birnam Wood to Dunsinane,
as the witches had foretold. A cry of women marks the death of
Lady Macbeth and her husband is killed in single combat with Macduff.

Verdi made a number of changes in Macbeth, the first of his
Shakespearean operas, for the French version of 1865, in particular the
necessary addition of a ballet at the start of the third act. In general
the action follows Shakespeare, with the obvious necessary abridgements
and omissions. The prelude makes use of material from the opera, in
particular that associated with the witches in the third act and the
famous sleep-walking scene of the fourth. Lady Macbeth's letter scene,
Nel dì della vittoria (In the day of success) presents her as an
immediately powerful figure. The exiled Scots under Malcolm echo
patriotic sentiment in Italy in their Patria oppressa (Our country
oppressed), while Macduff laments the reported murder of his wife and
children in Ah, la paterna mano (Ah, a father's hand). Lady Macbeth
appears in the first great sleep-walking scene of Italian opera,
Una macchia (A spot), observed by her lady-in-waiting and the doctor.
In the last scene, Macbeth, nearing his end, regrets his lack of those
accompaniments of age, Pietà, rispetto, amore (Kindness, respect, love).
The French version of the work ends with a hymn of victory,
instead of Macbeth's final despair and death.

Thanks for this, Art.

I'm afraid I'll be at a writers' meeting tonight. Will it be available in the archives?