A day after seeing Verdi's "Macbeth" at the Minnesota Opera last weekend, I watched a 25-year-old movie of the opera in which the Shakespearean witches are grimy, half-naked, feral creatures who haunt the whole story, start to finish.
That's what the Minnesota production needs — more grime and terror.
Soprano Brenda Harris is a convincingly fierce Lady Macbeth and has the coloratura technique that Verdi calls for in this nearly bel canto work. She's sparkling in "Si colmi il calice," which opens the great banquet scene in Act Two, and ferocious in the duet "Ora di morte e di vendetta," when she and her king plan to polish off Macduff.
Bass-baritone Greer Grimsley, who last appeared with the Minnesota Opera 10 years ago in Wagner's "Flying Dutchman," is effective as the dithering yet dangerous Macbeth, though he lacks the strong Italian diction and flourishes you might expect.
But the production, directed by Joel Ivany, doesn't have the fire or consistent vision to make it come alive. At times a few actors move about in the audience, for no real reason — it's a distraction, in fact, during Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene in Act Four. There are a few striking multimedia projections, but they're not used consistently throughout.
ADVERTISEMENT
The appearance of Banquo's ghost should be a chilling moment, but it was easy to miss on opening night and more like a moment from "Salome."
Most puzzling of all may be the witches. Verdi doubled down on Shakespeare's witches — the Bard called for only three, but Verdi has a whole gaggle of them, and they're the linchpin of the work. They're pretty tame and sluggish in this staging, arrayed in a confusing way in the opening scene and overwhelmed by graphics in the "sabbath" scene.
The march of Banquo's descendants was compelling, as was Grimsley's desperate plea in "Fuggi regal fantasima" for the ghosts to be gone. All told, aside from Harris, it was the huge chorus prepared by Rob Ainsley that made the greatest mark, along with the finely colored orchestral playing led by music director Michael Christie.
At a runtime of about three hours, a quicker tempo was needed at times, especially in Act Four and after two intermissions.
The production, the third in the opera's five-show season, opened Saturday and two performances remain, at 8 p.m. tonight and 2 p.m. Sunday. For ticket information, call the Ordway box office at 651-224-4222.
Next up is Minnesota composer Dominick Argento's "The Dream of Valentino," which opens March 1 and features a company favorite, tenor James Valenti, as silent movie star Rudolph Valentino.
Jay Furst is the Post-Bulletin's managing editor.
ADVERTISEMENT
Two performances remain of the Minnesota Opera's production of "Macbeth." Tonight's curtain is at 8 p.m., and there's a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday.
The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is at 345 Minnesota St., St. Paul. For tickets, call the box office at 651-224-4222.
