Macbeth | Giuseppe Verdi
Nothing needs to be said about Shakespeare's Macbeth: one cannot help but know and love the darkest and most profound meditation that Western civilization has produced on the themes of evil, power, destiny, guilt. Verdi set it to music in 1847, giving the world a work of terrifying power, cloaked in a black and shiny orchestral dress, in which he experiments with unprecedented wisdom with the "weapons" of Italian opera to evoke witches and ghosts from the Scottish mist: and so we have fiery cabalettas, demonic marches, infernal dances, and a type of veiled and suffocated singing, cared for in the smallest inflections. Nothing of the original tragedy is lost, if anything it is enriched. Verdi considered this his tenth opera the best he had composed up to that moment, in his youthful years of frantic work (or "prison", as he called them).
Riccardo Muti has been conducting this masterpiece for fifty years, refining it more and more, and is today its greatest expert. His return to the Regio — the fourth in five years — will see him accompanied by Chiara Muti, creator of a new, eagerly awaited staging of the opera. In the title role is the baritone Luca Micheletti — who, being a born prose actor, has Shakespeare in his blood — and on stage with him a team of impeccable Verdi singers such as Lidia Fridman, Giovanni Sala and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo.
Lecture-Concert: Wednesday 17 February at 6 pm - Piccolo Regio Puccini
Melodrama in four acts
Characters and cast
Luca Micheletti
Lidia Fridman
Ildebrando D'Arcangelo
Giovanni Sala
Chiara Polese
Riccardo Rados
Luca Dall'Amico
Eduardo Martínez (Regio Ensemble)
Tyler Zimmerman (Regio Ensemble)
Daniel Umbelino (Regio Ensemble)
Performances
Synopsis
atto
Scene I. Macbeth and Banquo, generals of King Duncan's army, come across a coven of witches. The witches prophesy that Macbeth will be king of Scotland and Banquo will be the father of future kings.
Scene II. In Macbeth's castle, Lady Macbeth reads a letter from her husband that tells her of his military successes and the prophecy. When a messenger announces that Duncan is arriving at the castle with Macbeth, the woman decides to act. That same night she persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan. After committing the crime, Macbeth is gripped by remorse. Lady Macbeth mocks him for his cowardice, then goes to Duncan's chambers to blame the guards. Macduff - a Scottish noble - and Banquo arrive to wake the king, and the crime is discovered.
atto
Scene I. Macbeth is now king of Scotland, and Duncan's son Malcolm (who has been blamed for the crime) has taken refuge in England. Since the witches had prophesied that Banquo's sons would ascend to the throne, Macbeth and his wife decide that they too must be killed.
Scene II. Banquo and his son Fleantio are on their way to Macbeth's castle, when they are attacked by assassins: only Fleantio manages to escape.
Scene III. While a banquet is in progress, an assassin enters to announce to Macbeth what has happened in the garden. The king is terrified by the vision of Banquo's ghost sitting in his place: Lady Macbeth tries to make the visions vanish, but the ghost returns. At this point Macbeth's attitude begins to arouse suspicion among the guests. Macduff decides to go into exile.
atto
Macbeth questions the witches, who, while warning him against Macduff, reassure him: he must fear no man born of woman, and will be invincible until Birnam Wood moves against him. Macbeth laughs, thinking that no forest will ever walk. But when he questions the witches about the fate of Banquo's descendants, a procession of royal figures appears to him, followed by Banquo's ghost. The witches summon Undines and Sylphs to revive Macbeth. Left alone, he awakens when Lady Macbeth arrives: she informs her of what she has seen and heard, and decides to have Macduff and Fleance's family killed as well. Lady Macbeth rejoices at her husband's newfound courage.
atto
Scene I. On the border between Scotland and England, a group of Scottish refugees lament the fate of their homeland under Macbeth. Macduff, shocked to learn of the death of his wife and children, is encouraged by Malcolm to seek revenge. Hiding behind branches cut from the trees of Birnam Wood, the Scots advance towards Macbeth's castle.
Scene II. In the castle, a doctor and a lady watch in horror as Lady Macbeth, sleepwalking, recalls the crimes she committed.
Scene III. Macbeth is already so overcome by depression that the death of his wife leaves him indifferent. But when he is told of the advance of Birnam Wood and when Macduff tells him that he was torn from the corpse of his mother, he realizes that his fate is sealed. Macduff kills Macbeth and shortly thereafter Malcolm's troops enter, chanting the liberation of their homeland.