Macbeth

Verdi Macbeth opera to libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and Andrea Maffei. Revival direction at the Royal Opera House in 2011 by Harry Fehr of the Phyllida Lloyd 2002 production. Stars Simon Keenlyside, Raymond Aceto, Liudmyla Monastyrska, Elizabeth Meister, Nigel Cliffe, Ian Lindsay, Steven Ebel, Dmitri Pittas, Will Richardson, Olle Zetterström, Jonathan Fisher, William Payne, Archie Buchanan, Jonathan Coad, and Lukas Jakobski. Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Concert Master Peter Manning)and the Royal Opera Chorus (Chorus Director Renato Balsadonna). Designs by Anthony Ward; lighting design by Paule Constable; original choreography by Michael Keegan-Dolan revived by Kirsty Tapp; fight direction by Terry King. Directed for TV by Sue Judd; produced by James Whitmourn. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A-

This title was viewed by the famous L'OperaDou Jury, which gave it the grade of "A-." I would be inclined to spring for an "A." The singing, acting, direction, sets, costumes, picture quality, video content, and sound quality are all impressive; it was such a pleasure to experience an opera version of this play that I know pretty well from readings, theater stage, and movie versions.

The only critical comments i've heard about this show would be assertions that Monastyrska was not up to the acting requirements of Lady Macbeth. So I was expecting to be unimpressed by her. Turned out differently.  True, Monastyrska is heavy, which I generally pan in sopranos.  But Monastyrska is also quite pretty. So I think she's a feasible middle-aged Lady Macbeth.   Monastyrska does have a tendency to back up the powerful emotions she registers by making faces, even to the point of crossing her eyes.  This would probably look ridiculous on a theater stage. But when seen on the face of a woman who is singing accurately over the voices of 50 other opera singers, her expressions seem don't seem that outlandish. In any event, I found her pretty scary. And I found myself completely sucked into the famous "damned spot" scene where Lady Macbeth is observed by the doctor (played by Lukas Jakobski) and the lady-in-waiting.  Now all we need is a Macbeth from the Globe on stage. I want to see  how a world-class stage actress handles Lady McBeth and how the stage portrayal compares to Monastyrska approach.