Last week, I enjoyed Eugene Opera’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth at the Hult Center. The four-act tragedy is based on Shakespeare’s famous play. This is a link to a simple synopsis.
_____________
“When Shakespeare imagined ambition’s darkest corners, he created Macbeth — a tale of power, prophecy, and paranoia that has haunted audiences for four centuries.” Hultcenter.org
_____________
Eugene Opera’s 50th Anniversary Season
“Macbeth opens Eugene Opera’s landmark 50th anniversary season – a fitting choice for a milestone year, pairing one of theater’s greatest stories with one of opera’s most powerful scores.”
_____________
“Verdi wrote vocal lines that require immense physical power and emotional vulnerability. When a character breaks down, the music mimics actual human crying, gasping, and shouting, pulling the audience directly into their suffering.”
_____________
Cast
“Commanding baritone Craig Irvin and dramatic soprano Kara Shay Thomson portray the original power couple – two souls who reach for a crown and lose everything in the bargain.” Jeffrey Seppla portrayed Banquo, Esteban José Zúñiga Calderón was Malcolm, and Bernard Holcomb played a fantastic Macduff. The witches and powerful symphony orchestra were fabulous!
“Their blood-soaked rise and descent into madness is rendered in music of terrifying beauty, from the witches’ chilling prophecies to Lady Macbeth’s devastating sleepwalking scene. Directed by Keturah Stickann with a vision of spectacle and grandeur that brings Shakespeare’s dark Scotland vividly to life.”
Orchestra and Chorus
The performance was conducted by Maestro Andrew Bisantz, with the Eugene Opera Orchestra and Chorus “bringing Verdi’s score to life with full dramatic force“. The opera was presented in Italian with English titles displayed above the stage. The libretto is by Francesco Maria Piave and Andrea Maffei.
____________
“Written for the Teatro della Pergola in Florence, Macbeth was Verdi’s tenth opera and premiered on 14 March 1847. It was the first Shakespeare play that Verdi adapted for the operatic stage.”
____________
Characters
Principal operatic roles include:
- Macbeth (Baritone) – Scottish army general who becomes King of Scotland after King Duncan’s murder
- Lady Macbeth (Soprano) – Macbeth’s wife and instigator of King Duncan’s murder
- Banquo (Bass) – Scottish army general and Macbeth’s friend
- Macduff (Tenor) – Thane of Fif, Scottish nobleman who opposes Macbeth
- Malcolm (Tenor) – Son of slain King Duncan, who flees to England but returns to reclaim the Scottish throne
Verdi’s operas are unmatched for their powerful, emotionally cathartic drama, and the Eugene Opera production was exceptional. Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene and Macbeth and Macduff arias in Act IV were especially powerful! Eugene Opera will present Carmen in Concert in December and A Little Night Music in May 2027.