“Macbeth,” the Verdi opera currently on offer at Deutsch Opera, Berlin, should have been titled “MacAbre.” Shakespeare was lionized by the Italian composer, so it’s interesting to speculate what he would have thought of this bizarre, Grand-Guignol-ish production, created by the controversial Marie-Ève Signeyrole and roundly booed by critics (but found fascinating by the audience, including yours truly.)
Signeyrole has moved the setting to present-day Scotland, which has become independent of the UK under King Duncan (Hagen Henning.) Duncan has nationalized the oilfields in the North Sea, leading to an economic war between Scotland and Norway.
As for the witches, there are no longer three but approximately three dozen, representing pro-fossil-fuel lobbyists. The women, dressed in crisp white blouses and perched behind laptops, want to dethrone the king in order to install Macbeth as a president they can manipulate.
Fans of Shakespeare will be relieved that one character hasn’t changed: Macbeth (played by the magnificent Roman Budenko) still seeks to steamroll anyone who stands in his way to the top. Heeding the prophecies of the witches (lobbyists?), he has Banquo's son and his playmates poisoned at a children's birthday party. The stage is full of small corpses and balloons at the end of the scene. Eek.
Lady Macbeth was played by two women the night I saw it—one sang from the sidelines, the other pantomimed the action and wore a mask, as she was ill. The first of these, Anna Pirozzi, an understudy, sang particularly well in the final acts (there are five altogether). The non-singing LM was played by Felicia Moore. An especially odd moment occurs when she is inseminated via IVF on stage, underscoring the fact that this Macbeth is impotent. In the final act, she miscarries and is shown staggering across the stage, her nightgown covered in blood. Double eek. All of this action is supplemented by video and rear-screen projection.
It’s a shame Verdi’s masterpiece has been reinterpreted this way because the principals themselves are first rate. Budenko’s powerful baritone serves him well in the role of an insecure Macbeth. He sings so beautifully you don’t want it to end—and it does not, as he actually rises after his murder and delivers a stirring aria in the finale. Attilio Glaser sang Macduff with a beautiful lyric tenor, while Marko Mimica was convincing as Banquo with his dark bass.
In short, Deutsche Oper’s “Macbeth” adds far too much distraction to a story that is strong enough to stand on its own. But even at its worst, a night at the opera in Germany is fascinating. You are seated among a rather stolid audience for whom yelling “bravo” during the performance is considered in bad taste. Kind of like this production.
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https://open.substack.com/pub/johnnogowski/p/would-shakespeare-have-dug-macbeth?r=7pf7u&utm_medium=ios