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The Metropolitan Opera – Verdi: Macbeth

The Metropolitan Opera – Verdi: Macbeth

  • Overview
  • Cast
  • Crew

Status

Released

Release Date

Apr 13, 2008

Runtime

2h 37m

Genres

Drama, Music

Original Title

The Metropolitan Opera – Verdi: Macbeth

Production Companies

The Metropolitan Opera, EMI

Director

Gary Halvorson

Description

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.