Verdi: Macbeth (Zurich, 2001)
 

Cast: Thomas Hampson (Macbeth), Paoletta Marrocu (Lady Macbeth), Roberto Scandiuzzi (Banquo), Luis Lima (Macduff), Liuba Chuchrova (Gentlewoman), Miroslav Christoff (Malcolm), Peter Kálmán (Doctor); Chorus and Orchestra Zürich Opernhaus, Franz Welser-Möst (conductor) David Pountney (director) Stefanos Lazaridis (designer) Thomas Grimm (video director)

Recorded at the Zurich Opera House in 2001

Issued on DVD in 2002 by TDK Mediactive (DV-OPMAC, PAL/Region 0 with menus in English and subtitles in English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian).

Technical Details:
Picture Format: 16:9 (nominal); ~14:9 in practice
Sound: LPCM Stereo; Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1

Running time: 141 minutes plus 45-minute supplement 'Macbeth &endash; An Introduction'

Sung in Italian
 
This recording is a tour de force for Hampson and for the staging, and yet the production can be characterized as a whole far greater than the sum of its parts. The performance is dominated by Hampson: a young, vital, eminently human figure who is the victim of his human ambition. In most other productions, his character is seen as driven by the 'Lady'; here, she supports him. Conventionally, the witches appear in scenes which are musically weak; here, they are omnipresent and their music relieves the tension by its simplicity, then builds it by their involvement. There is an overall pulse to this performance found in no other - not only no other Macbeth, but no other known opera recording.
 
The staging fails to persuade in any particular, yet is compelling overall. The banquet table is the witches' sandbox, complete with corpses raised, stroked and restored by the crones. The set is a single one in which Macbeth's domain is represented by a transparent box, at times shadowy, at times brilliantly illuminated from within. Thus, one is never either fully within the castle or fully outside it; Macbeth's space is perceived as a whole, even when with Malcolm in England. There is no privacy for the royal couple. They are seen ravishing one another even as the witches cavort. The Lady's madness is confined by the box; the gentlewoman and doctor are outside looking in, sharing the viewpoint of the audience.
 
The witches are presented as our contemporaries of the basest sort. All other characters are dressed and behave in abstracts of timelessness, nearly cartoon figures physically and barely real in behavior. Lady Macbeth's physical appeal is evident in dress and movement, and yet it is somehow not erotic until she is mad, when the enticing costume is replaced with a plain nightdress. Vocally, Marrocu is effective rather than forceful, accurate rather than exciting; again, this forces the focus onto Macbeth and the witches, the two primary 'characters' in this production. Hampson proves to be more than the equal of the massed spirits. His is not the bellow of most baritones in this role. Indeed, his instrument is not of the sort to permit such a reading. Instead, he uses his lyrical voice to make Macbeth not only a man but a most attractive one; where power is needed, he supplies it with declamation which is altogether fitting in this reading. His interpretation is compelling and should not be missed, though it is at variance with every other portrayal, even Fischer-Dieskau's which is closest in spirit.
 
Scandiuzzi's Banquo is unfocussed, but that is not a significant fault here where attention is so fully on Macbeth. Puzzlingly Fleance is portrayed by a child of about eight who carries and places a typewriter. Why so young when he must find his own way after Banquo's murder? Why a typewriter? Those questions could divert attention (and cannot be answered), but in practice they are simply passing curiosities set against the furious pace of the opera.
 
Welser-Möst balances the performance effectively, never letting the orchestra steal attention from Macbeth. His is an efficient reading rather than an inspired one, setting the framework for the tortured king. The sound is well-balanced and clear though seemingly more compressed than usual in dynamic range. Much of the image is dark, but brilliant lighting is used to force the eye and mind at the director's will.
 
This may be the most difficult to document of the more than 500 performances of opera on video this reviewer has attempted. It could be criticized for its perversities; it could be praised excessively for its originality. It can neither be ignored nor forgotten.
 
 
Related website:
TDK Mediactive www.tdk-mediactive.com
 
Michael Richter, 22 October 2002
mrichter@cpl.net
 
See also Michael Richter's Introduction to the DVD, for a list of other reviews see the DVD Project page.