Macbeth

Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi
An opera in four acts
From the Royal Opera House, London

Verdi’s most evocative music brings Shakespeare’s drama to life on the stage of the Royal Opera House. Macbeth stars British baritone Simon Keenlyside as the titular tormented ruler of Scotland. Don’t miss this thrilling tale of power and corruption, broadcast LIVE from London.

Date of performance June 13, 2011
Conductor Antonio Pappano
Director Phyllida Lloyd
Cast
Macbeth ~ Simon Keenlyside
Banquo ~ Raymond Aceto
Lady Macbeth ~ Liudmyla Monastyrska
Malcolm ~ Steven Ebel
Lady ~ Elisabeth Meister
Macduff ~ Dmitri Pittas
Royal Opera Chorus
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

About Macbeth
Verdi’s lifelong love affair with Shakespeare first took wing with Macbeth in 1847. The composer thought the play ‘one of the greatest creations of man’ and, along with his librettist Piave, set out to make of it, ‘something out of the ordinary’ on the operatic stage. Musically, Verdi’s masterstrokes were the macabre choruses for the witches, the evocative orchestral colours and the increased role for the ‘ugly and evil’ Lady Macbeth. Although Verdi later revised the opera in 1865 for Paris, his earlier, more unified version of the opera is used here for this revival of Phyllida Lloyd’s striking staging. Simon Keenlyside and Martina Serafin play the Scottish nobleman and his villainously ambitious wife, who spurs her husband to murder for the sake of his career, and American bass-baritone Raymond Aceto takes the role of Banquo, murder victim and symbol of conscience.

"The most thrilling outburst of collective outrage and grief in all of Verdi." (Independent)