Opera Reviews
29 March 2024
Untitled Document
Levine brings out the best in Macbeth
by Steve Cohen

Verdi: Macbeth
Metropolitan Opera
22 October 2007

Photo: Ken Howard / Metropolitan OperaThere’s so much good in the new Met Macbeth that the flaws stand out disconcertingly.

The good: James Levine is at the peak of his powers. I heard him conduct Macbeth 20 years ago but he has never made the Met orchestra sound so well. In the prelude he contrasted soft, beautifully-textured passages with crashing chords to make a thrilling introduction. Throughout the opera he kept the music rippling along, building tension and letting loose in climaxes like the Act 2 finale and the Act 4 "Macbeth is dead" march. Chorus Master Donald Palumbo deserves credit for great choral singing.

Željko Lucic is a relatively unheralded baritone who sings a beautiful Macbeth. His voice is smooth and velvety. To his credit, he never barked or shouted but let Verdi’s notes make the dramatic effect. Unfortunately he is not scheduled to perform Macbeth in January when the opera will be broadcast and telecast to theaters, but I look forward to seeing this Serbian in more roles in the future.

Lucic’s persona, and the Shakespeare-based libretto, caused his character to appear as a follower rather than a leader, deferring to his fiercely ambitious wife played by Maria Guleghina. So, even though she is not the title character, Lady Macbeth is the driving force and the key to the opera’s appeal. Guleghina’s acting is stilted rather than intuitive or natural, but she did convey the lust for sex and for power which is innate in Lady Macbeth. Her Act One aria and cabaletta were imprecise and unfocused. She rose to an effective level during the ensembles of the third act but then her Sleepwalking scene was a disappointment, missing the prescribed haunting quality and the sustaining of long phrases.

The supporting cast was young and lacking in charisma. John Relyea’s Banquo was decently sung but not as impressive or poignant as the man should be. (René Pape will sing the part later in the run.) Dimitri Pittas as Macduff forced his aria rather than producing honeyed tones, his approach being the exact opposite of Lucic’s.

As to the new production, this too had its highs and lows. Some of the scenes were stunning, especially Banquo’s final moments as he and his young son walk through the forest, realistically portrayed on a diagonal across the Met’s stage. Another great visual is the carrying of King Duncan’s body to downstage center after he’s been murdered. Shakespeare’s dark world of ambition and ruthlessness – where almost every scene is at night or on an overcast day – is effectively translated when a black stage is thrown into contrast with swinging lights.

But the use of contemporary dress seems pointless. When an army jeep appears in the final act amidst the advancing army, it’s jarring because there’s no reference point. Modern stagings are okay if they connect to something in the text. For example, a Philadelphia production of the play in 2003 was set on a World War I battlefield, where gas masks gave new meaning to Shakespeare’s lines about the "foul and filthy air." In that staging the witches were spooky nurses who came out of the trenches to smother a wounded soldier to death. In this version, Verdi’s triple chorus of witches prance like bag ladies. They reminded me a bit of the elderly women with walkers in The Producers. It was hard to tell if we were supposed to laugh at their appearance.

So Adrian Noble’s direction is, at times, puzzling, but Mark Thompson's sets and costumes are striking and handsome.

All in all, the orchestra, chorus, Lucic and the dark settings show Macbeth as a masterpiece. It was a personal favorite of the composer then was neglected for a century until the 1960s. Now we have it back and we can look forward, I hope, to performances with an interesting array of casting. Let’s pray that Levine can remain as its conductor for many years.

Photo: © Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera
Text: © Steve Cohen
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