The Metropolitan Opera – Verdi: Macbeth
2008-04-13 | 157 minutes
Plot Summary
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.
Cast
Recommendations
Similar Movies
-
Car Men
-
The Marriage of Figaro
-
The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh
-
The Magic Flute
-
Lucia di Lammermoor
-
Beethoven: Fidelio
-
Artaserse
-
The Metropolitan Opera: Eugene Onegin
-
Don Pasquale (Royal Opera House)
-
Tosca
-
Die Zauberflöte
-
Cossacks Beyond the Danube
-
Così fan tutte
-
The Metropolitan Opera: Don Giovanni
-
Confession of the Vanished
-
Verdi La Traviata
-
The Prompter
-
Arena di Verona: Il Trovatore
-
Moonstruck
-
Puccini: Turandot