Macbeth

In my opinion Macbetto is Verdi's greatest operatic adaptation of Shakespeare. Macbeth's various arias perfectly mirror the character's emotional state, and the sleepwalking aria is perfect - chilling and literally pathetic.

That said, this production has flaws - not musically, but physically. Paskalis's voice is really powerful, and Barstow is a superb lady Macbeth, but she is a good four inches taller than him, despite built-up boots, and this can look rather odd at times. However, don't let that put you off watching it: it's a Glyndebourne production with a decent cast and a proper ballet and supernumeraries, of which I was one, to carry swords etc.

An interesting piece of trivia is that the supernumeraries and chorus, lying on their backs waiting to appear as the army for the first big chorus scene had bats flying around them from the fly-tower and out into the auditorium. Now that's realism!

Macbeth is not among my favourite Verdi operas, and of the Shakespeare-adapted operas I marginally prefer Otello, but I do consider it alongside Luisa Miller one of Verdi's better early operas in terms of music and dramatic intensity. And this is a terrific production, not my favourite like the 1976 La Scala production but definitely one of the better Macbeths around. The costumes, lighting and sets are very good, not quite your definition of sumptuous(then again Macbeth is a very dark and in a way bleak opera), but things are suitably spooky when they should be like in the banquet scene and the scenes with the witches. They are also less drab thankfully than the Hampson-Morroccu Zurich and the Lucic-Guleghina Met productions. The technical values of the DVD are fine, not glassy or dated in the slightest, even if occasionally the orchestra covers the singers a little too much. The orchestral playing is very powerful a lot of the time, and John Pritchard's conducting shows lots of command and stamina. The chorus are a big part of why the production is so good to me, they have a lot to do and whether in their goosebump-inducing Patria Oppressa or where they are representing Birnham Woods they are very impressive indeed. The staging is never dull or resorts to superfluous bad taste. The performances are of a high standard, with Kostas Paskalis singing remarkably in the title role. He may not be the most skilled actor of anybody in the role(Carlos Alvarez for me is still the best acted) however the whole performance is moving and passionate overall. Josephine Barstow is an often thrilling and very committed Lady Macbeth, her sleepwalking scene is a knockout. While she is not as bloodcurdling as Shirley Verrett her vocal production is preferable to that of Paoletta Morroccu and Mara Zampieri(both ladies are quite intense in the role, but rather squally vocally at times). James Morris is sensational as Banquo, especially in the second act. His singing is youthful yet very velvety and his acting is suitably virile and quite scary in the banquet scene(in short he is far better than he was in the 1987 Berlin production with Bruson and Zampieri). Keith Erwin is very good as Macduff, heroic with a warm, unstrained voice. Overall, highly recommended. 9/10 Bethany Cox