Opera Abbreviated is a brief podcast designed to acquaint you with the operas being presented in the Metropolitan Opera's Live in HD series, shown in movie theaters worldwide. This link includes a search function to help you find a local participating cinema.
We begin with Macbeth, Shakespeare's "Scottish play" transformed into an opera by Giuseppe Verdi. Macbeth was an opera that Giuseppe Verdi dearly loved. He worked diligently preparing the first performance, at the Teatro Pergola in Florence in 1847.
Verdi's advice has come down through the years: "For Lady Macbeth, I do not want a beautiful voice. Her voice should be choked and harsh, the voice of a devil."
Certainly Shakespeare's Lady dominates this opera. But don't discount the baritone title role, the tenor role of Macduff who needn't carry the show but has a terrific aria, and the bass needed for the noble Banquo.
Throw in witches, regicide, insanity, sleepwalking and war, and what's not to love?
It seems the world is talking about the Russian soprano Anna Netrebko's portrayal of Verdi and Shakespeare's monstrous Lady. It was thought this casting against the grain would be the end of Anna.
Instead it's being called the performance of her career. You will see Anna Netrebko as Lady Macbeth, with Zeljko Lucic in the title role, Jospeh Calleja and Macduff and Rene Pape as Banco. That's a cast you can't beat.
You can sit in comfort with popcorn and a Diet Coke. But first, hear all about it in our first Opera Abbreviated of the 2014-15 season.
