Verdi's Macbeth

A friend asked us to go to Portland and see her in the chorus of the Portland Opera's production of Verdi's Macbeth. It was wonderful. Verdi is often credited as the emotional if not the intellectual glue that unified Italy. This was written well before Garibaldi but the political message about unwise rulers - which was present in Shakespeare's play - is even more prominent in this opera. Verdi had a couple of problems in doing this. First, the Italians were not big fans of Shakespeare. Any earlier production of another one of the bard's works in opera was laughed off the stage. Second, his first collaborator on lyrics did not catch what the master wanted to convey - so Verdi had to fire his friend. Then Verdi had to find a group of singers who could match the demanding parts. Stories about the first performance seem to suggest that he accomplished all of that and more. On opening night he got 32 curtain calls. In a second or third performance he was carried home on the shoulders of a grateful crowd.

This production of the opera took some risks. First, there was a minimalist set. Most of the scene changes were done with lighting. But it came off amazingly well. Second, the chorus roles for the spirits - that come in a couple of the acts were done with the spirits dressed up in silk like costumes and face paint. Again, the spirits were mystical as I think Shakespeare intended them to be. But as with the original the challenges were more than met. Each of the major parts was done well. Macduff (Richard Troxell) was especially compelling. But Macbeth (Richard Zeller), Lady Macbeth (Pamela South) and Banquo (Peter Volpe) were also very strong.

One of the interesting contrasts in the production was the role of Macbeth. The character in the play and the opera has to be something close to Don Jose in Carmen. He needs to be strong enough to act in defiance of convention but weak enough to be guided by another (in Carmen by Carmen, in Macbeth by Lady Macbeth). So he is a complex character. If he is too wimpy he does not carry off the murder well - if too strong the interaction with Lady Macbeth is not convincing. He has to mix hubris with wimpiness. Troxell is a very big guy - he looks like he could have played football in college. But he got the dramatic mix about right.

One final comment on the opera. Many of the best operas use the final scenes to tie things together. When we landed in Portland yesterday we went downtown to get some lunch. The first station we got to was the one presenting the Met's production of Traviata (I complained how weak the Germond was) - there the final act is really just a summation. The best arias are really in other parts (especially the interchange between Flora and Germond - which is my favorite aria). But here Verdi saved some of the best music for the last two acts (which were done together). There is lots of good stuff in the first two acts but the best is at the end. The last number - where Banquo says "we got the tyrant" gave me the impression that it might well have compelled the crowd to go out of the theater and unify Italy - on the spot!

The crowd was appreciative of this production and the house was almost sold out. They and it should have been!