Verdi: Macbeth (Campanella)

Introduction

Verdi`s first (out of three) operas based on Shakespeare plays is conducted by Bruno Campanella in a performance recorded over two nights in Spring 2004. The production is directed by Phyllida Lloyd.

In this opera, first performed in Florence in 1847 and revised in 1865 (the version shown here) Verdi takes much of what is written in the original play but concentrates on the self-destruction of the two main characters, and Macbeth`s interaction with the witches (considerably more than three in the opera, but nothing is lost through this).

Verdi wrote this when he was 33, and had decided on reading the 1838 Italian translation of the play, that "This tragedy is one of the greatest human creations!". He considered Shakespeare to be the equal of, if not better than Shelley, Byron and Schiller, and this shows in the care he obviously put into creating such a work.

Video

The quality of the video transfer is patchy. Quite often the picture suffers from what I can only call `pulsating blotchiness` in the darker scenes, which is a shame, as Phyllida Lloyd`s production relies on some subtle lighting effects, which do not come across as strongly as they should. Also, we are faced with wobbly close-up camerawork which appears to be par for the course in productions from this theatre.

Audio

The audio quality is much better, with a clear and well-balanced DTS production (also available in DD Stereo).

Features

Extras, such as they are, consist of a short audio synopsis (with stills) and a `Cast Gallery`, which consists of pictures of the cast in their roles and nothing else. Some form of biography would have been nice.

Subtitles are provided in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Catalan, and there is a short but fairly informative (just short of) 2-page description of the production within a booklet included with the DVD.

Conclusion

Macbeth is a relatively early Verdi opera, but it shows many of the roots of the mature composer`s ideas regarding orchestration, ensemble and melody writing.

The production is striking in that we often feel rather claustrophobic due to the enclosed set. There is little to lighten the oppressiveness apart from the concentration on red and gold as the two colours which stand out throughout the piece.

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are sung quite brilliantly by Carlos Álvarez and Maria Guleghina (a splendidly buxom soprano who doesn`t half milk the applause at the end), although towards the beginning of the opera, she did tend to stay very slightly underneath her her top notes, and sounded strained towards the end of the sleepwalking scene but these are minor quibbles.

The rest of the cast also produce fine performances. `O figli miei!`, sung by Macduff (Marco Berti) following the murders of his wife and children is particularly moving.

Bruno Campanella whips the music along at a decent pace, and I was pleased to see Act 4 following on directly after Act 3 - far too may intervals in productions nowadays! However, there are some scrappy orchestral beginnings to a few sections (either him not being clear, or no one was watching - judging by the free-for-all bowing that was going on in the overture, I`d probably blame the band this time) and at times the intonation in the pit isn`t as good as it should be, most noticeably at the end of Act 2.

This is just me being picky though, as overall, I think this is a very good performance of a great early Verdi opera. Ideally, it would be good to have extras in the way of documentaries on how opera productions are created and rehearsed, which would perhaps make DVDs like this more attractive to those who aren`t necessarily drawn to this type of music, but until that happens, the music will have to speak for itself, and Verdi rarely fails in this respect.