Verdi;Giuseppe Macbeth

The most impressive thing about this 2 DVD set of a live performance of Verdi's 'Macbeth' at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona is the strength of the cast. From top to bottom, the cast is exemplary. It is not, like the Zurich production with Thomas Hampson completely dominating the performance, a one-person show. It is true that Carlos Álvarez, the marvelous Spanish baritone, is outstanding as the title character. But he is very nearly equaled by the rest of the cast. Maria Guleghina, despite a somewhat shaky start in Act I ('Vieni! t'affretta') grows in security and dramatic effectiveness throughout the performance and her Sleepwalking Scene is stunning. Bass-baritone Roberto Scandiuzzi is marvelous, both vocally and dramatically as Banquo; he's truly scary in Act IV. And even more amazing, simply because I didn't know him before, is Marco Berti as Macduff; a fine, stalwart tenor with a ringing top, Berti practically steals the show in the latter acts. Malcolm, sung by tenor Javier Palacios, is marginally less effective, but his final scene, where he is crowned the new King of Scotland is dramatically satisfying. Begoña Alberdi as Lady Macbeth's Lady-in-Waiting reveals a rich contralto and fine stage presence.

The production, by Phyllida Lloyd, was first seen at Covent Garden. Anthony Ward did the sets and costumes. The scenery is minimal, somewhat expressionist and loaded with symbolism. There is red, for 'blood,' everywhere, in this goriest of Verdi's operas; there is a gilded cage that symbolizes the Macbeths' situation, and so on. The costumes are rather generic, not really representing any specific historical period, but they are attractive. None of the setting bothers one the way some updating of operas does; this is not a Eurotrash-ing of the opera, but rather a thoughtful positioning of the drama in a sort of inner landscape, representing the increasingly disordered minds of the two protagonists. Inventive lighting by Paule Constable adds to this effect.

Musical direction is by Bruno Campanella; he gives us a brisk reading and the Liceu orchestra plays well. The chorus, which has a fair amount to do in the opera, is well prepared, both musically and dramatically, and adds to the production.

TT = 164 mins; LPCM Stereo; Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Catalan; Bonus features: A well-done illustrated synopsis (spoken in English), and a cast portrait gallery.

Scott Morrison

I completely concur with the previous reviewer's assessment of this Gran Teatre Del Liceu in Barcelona 2004 performance of one of my favorite operas. This performance is indeed comprised of some very marvelous singers.

Carlos Álvarez's concept of Macbeth is totally different than Hampson's in the Zurich production allowing the "Lady" to almost lead him around by the hand. . However, vocally he is stupendous singing the role with a true dramatic baritone voice. He is certainly matched very well by Maria Guleghina as the lady.

I purchased this DVD with a little trepidation mainly because I feared that Maria Guleghina was not quite up to the "Lady" vocally. Being a "Callas Orphan" I tend (right or wrong) to compare everyone that sings this role to Callas. Five seconds into the Lady's first aria I realized that Guleghina was making the role her very own and was singing and portraying Lady Macbeth in a most exciting manner. To put it bluntly, she sings the hell out of the role. Her Sleep Walking" scene is tremendous! It is the best that I have ever witnessed and I have seen and heard many. She even manages a hint of a trill and obviously she has worked very hard on the coloratura delivering it in a most dramatic manner. All that I can say is BRAVA!

Roberto Scandiuzzi is a wonderfully sonorous Banquo! What a pleasure it is to hear such a rich full bass voice. Marco Berti as Macduff starts of rather "tight voiced"; nevertheless, by his aria his voice has warmed up and he sings his aria very well.

The production is not a traditional one. It is, however, one that is comprehensible even to me. (Unlike the Zurich production with Hampson which I still don't completely understand") This Gran Teatre Del Liceu production is one of those what I call "Minimal Productions" that I have grown to love. It has wonderfully contrasting colors of reds and oranges on a rather black back ground.

In conclusion, if you want to see and to hear a marvelous rendition of Verdi's Macbeth, you can't go wrong buying this DVD.

I'll take my Macbeth bloody as hell, thanks. Dark, bloody and downright disturbing, this is the 3rd version of Verdi's "Macbeth" that I've seen on DVD, and the best so far. It occupies the happy middle ground between the respectable, if stodgy, 1978 Glyndebourne production, and the visually stunning, yet fairly bizarre and occasionally silly 2001 Zurich production. The sets here tend toward the minimalistic, yet there are some impressive dramatic flourishes, like the gilded cage into which Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ascend to power, and the snow which begins to fall ominously at the end of the 1st act. Phyllida Lloyd's stage action, on the other hand, is anything but minamalistic; this is true verismo staging, and the principals really work for their money (witness the riveting Álvarez sweating buckets through much of the opera!). Lloyd also succeeds where many of her peers have not in carrying off key dramatic scenes, such as Banquo's murder (which is genuinely suspenseful, almost scary, in this production). She's not afraid to use buckets of blood in this bloodiest of operas, and it works; the imagery actually gave me bad dreams. Álvarez is as convincing as any Macbeth I've seen, though I found Maria Guleghina a flawed Lady Macbeth; she has problems at the top of her register, and she plays the character as more of a shrew than a seductress. Marco Berti makes a heftily heroic Banquo, and his 3rd act aria is a literal show-stopper. The Liceu Orchestra is somewhat disadvantaged by a dry acoustic which exposes every little rhythmic flaw (there's no serious problems in the orchestra, but some minor issues of ensemble playing that wouldn't be noticeable in a more reverberant hall); otherwise, their playing, under the baton of Bruno Campanella, is as refined as one would expect from a top-tier opera orchestra. In general, I've found the operas released on the Opus Arte DVD label to be consistently interesting and of a high musical standard. This "Macbeth" certainly ranks among their most successful releases to date.