UK Edition
Review
Macbeth at Royal Opera House - Anna Netrebko is full of fire and fury in this revival of Verdi's opera
The curse on the Scottish play seems to have been busy in recent weeks, generating duff reviews for productions at both the National Theatre and the RSC. But Covent Garden seems to have evaded the spell: barring a few clunking stage-management glitches, this revival of Verdi’s operatic version hits the spot fair and square.
At its centre is a scorching performance by the Russian superstar soprano Anna Netrebko, who presents a blackly regal and overtly fearsome Lady M, making no bones about her nastiness or lust for power.
In the first two acts, she spews fire and fury, sometimes cavalier as to matters of pitch yet always thrillingly vivid and energetic: her chest voice is marvellously rich, and she can ride the top line of the ensembles with the steely force of a power drill.
But she’s not merely sandblasting: ‘La luce langue’ is dispatched with striking musical sensitivity and her fourth-act sleepwalking scene is mesmerisingly subtle in its spookiness, delicately coloured, imaginatively phrased and technically assured. Here is grand old-school singing of a sort that one rarely hears nowadays, more’s the pity, and it emphatically justifies Netrebko’s high reputation.
Zeljko Lucic’s Macbeth is rather overshadowed by the glamour of his stage wife, and his permanently constipated expression suggests a disinclination to compete with her histrionics. He too has his lapses in tuning, but his is a true Verdi baritone, firm in his grip on the line, and he stays the course bear-like to the end, signing off with a hotly remorseful ‘Pieta, rispetto, amore’.
No excuses or allowances are required for the engagement of Netrebko’s husband Yusif Eyvazov, who sings Macduff’s aria with trenchant eloquence before joining Konu Kim’s sparky Malcolm in a stirring call to arms. Ildebrando D’Arcangelo makes a properly baleful Banquo, and the enlarged chorus sounds healthy. They are all fortunate in their expert conductor: keeping the drama taut, Antonio Pappano provides an Italianate bravado that carries the singers along rather than swamping them.
Phyllida Lloyd’s 2002 staging has been revived by Daniel Dooner, and although it could have done with another rehearsal or two, it remains highly effective. Flashes of gilded primitive splendour illuminate the stony gloom, and the hovering witches pull the strings in a concept full of intelligent ideas and striking tableaux that sustain a fine dialogue between the different worlds of Shakespeare’s play and Verdi’s opera.
Until Apr 10. Tickets: 020 7304 4000; www.roh.org.uk