Sleepwalking Lady Macbeth Stumbles Along Salzburg Cliff: Review
"Macbeth"
Silvia Lelli/Salzburger Festspiele via Bloomberg
Robert Christott, Stephan Schafer and Volker Wahl as the three witches in the Verdi opera "Macbeth."
Robert Christott, Stephan Schafer and Volker Wahl as the three witches in the Verdi opera "Macbeth." Photographer: Silvia Lelli/Salzburger Festspiele via Bloomberg
"Macbeth"
Silvia Lelli/Salzburger Festspiele via Bloomberg
Tatiana Serjan as Lady Macbeth and Zeljko Lucic as Macbeth in the opera by Giuseppe Verdi. A new staging by Peter Stein premiered at the Salzburg Festival on Aug. 3.
Tatiana Serjan as Lady Macbeth and Zeljko Lucic as Macbeth in the opera by Giuseppe Verdi. A new staging by Peter Stein premiered at the Salzburg Festival on Aug. 3. Photographer: Silvia Lelli/Salzburger Festspiele via Bloomberg
Ghosts emerge from trapdoors under the stage, knights cross swords in chain-mail armor, witches chant around a cauldron and the forest really moves in the Salzburg Festival’s new production of Verdi’s opera “Macbeth.”
This slick show by veteran German director Peter Stein, sticks literally to the text, has sumptuous medieval costumes (everything bar wimples), nifty stage mechanisms and frolicking children dressed in white for spectators to say “aahh” to. It feels mostly shallow, and tugs too flagrantly on the emotions. The rawness and horror of Shakespeare’s tale are lost in the richness of the production, replaced by sentimentality and show.
The audience at last night’s premiere loved it, giving Zeljko Lucic and Tatiana Serjan the loudest cheers for their portrayals of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Bravos were also showered on conductor Riccardo Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic.
The theater is Salzburg’s Felsenreitschule, which has a panoramic wide stage, backed by three layers of galleries improbably carved out of the rock face behind.
Stein uses the imposing space to great melodramatic effect. Lady Macbeth stumbles along the full length of the top gallery in a white nightdress before she even opens her mouth to start singing “out, damned spot” in her sleep.
Duncan’s entourage proceeds to the Macbeths for dinner (and for the king’s death by Macbeth’s dagger) along a wide aisle between the front seats and the orchestra pit. The feast scene where Banquo’s ghost makes his untimely appearance takes place at a long narrow table spanning the width of the pit. The table becomes a catwalk for Lady Macbeth to strut her stuff as she sings her forcedly jolly toast after Banquo spoils the party.
Witch Reduction
The biggest deviation from the composer’s instructions is to reduce the number of witches to three (as in Shakespeare’s original) from Verdi’s chorus of 42. The chorus instead becomes tree spirits flitting through the shadows of Birnam Wood. (It’s easy to imagine these trees skipping off to Dunsinane.)
The three witches are grotesque, outsize creatures with white gowns over white, naked gnarled bodies. Their simmering cauldron yields the spirits -- one a suit of armor, the other a blood-soaked head and shoulders -- who warn Macbeth that his rival Banquo will father a dynasty of kings. The parade of future monarchs duly rises from a trapdoor under the stage.
Lucic and Serjan made a glamorous Macbeth couple. Serjan gave one of the most moving scenes of the evening with her sleeping confession and desperate hand-washing. She portrayed Lady Macbeth’s torment more convincingly than her wickedness.
As Macduff, Giuseppe Filianoti sang beautifully while weeping tragically over his dead children. Yes, they were on stage, covered in blood and lying unfeasibly still for quite some time. This scene was too overdone to move me.
Unfortunately, the English surtitles were translated back from Italian verse instead of reverting to the original Shakespeare wherever possible. In the text beamed onto the walls of the Felsenreitschule, life is a tale told by an idiot, full of “wind and clamor.”
If you listened carefully you might have heard some politely subdued sound and fury from at least one native English speaker in the audience.
Rating: **
“Macbeth” will be performed at the Felsenreitschule in Salzburg on Aug. 6, 9, 12, 16, 19, 22 and 24. Information: http://www.salzburgerfestspiele.at/en
What the Stars Mean: **** Excellent *** Good ** Average * Poor (No stars)Worthless
(Catherine Hickley writes for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.)
To contact the writer on the story: Catherine Hickley at chickley@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Beech at mbeech@bloomberg.net.
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