After many years presenting new American works as an opening night fare, the Metropolitan Opera has gone back to a more traditional time when opening night was reserved for a tried-and-true warhorse. Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth isn't exactly a warhorse, but it is a work from a beloved composer based on a favorite Shakespeare play.
It's an early effort by the youthful composer who remains steeped in the bel-canto traditions of Italian opera. And yet, where many instances of juvenilia have been forgotten, Macbeth has had a very successful life since its premiere in 1847. It was the composer's 10th opera, written during a time which Verdi called his "galley years." A few years later, at the beginning of the decade of the 1850's Verdi would enter what we now call his middle period where he produced one masterpiece after another: Rigoletto, Il Trovatore and La Traviata. We can hear the seed of those great works throughout the score of Macbeth.
In his third opera, Nabucco, written five years before Macbeth, Verdi wrote the heart-rending hymn "Va pensiero." The cry of the Israelites in bondage was interpreted as an ode in praise of the spirit of "Risorgimento." In Macbeth he writes the chorus "Patria oppressa," the mournful cry of the Scottish people as they lament the tyrannical rule of a dictator. This more subtle composition also serves as a veiled expression of nationalistic fervor. Musically, Verdi is maturing. This was his first foray into Shakespeare. He would not revisit The Bard again until near the end of his life, when his final years produced the masterpieces Otello and Falstaff.
With this new Macbeth, the MET seems to have conjured a crowd-pleaser. Under the direction of Louisa Proske (who first directed the Scottish play during her undergraduate years at Cambridge) the production is the kind that Joseph Volpe, former General Manager of the MET, would approve; the kind that's made to last twenty-plus years, and then some. Ms. Proske sets the scene in Elizabethan times, eschewing the Regietheater style currently favored by many European houses. This is a production that the composer would recognize. For transitional ease, the MET utilizes its turntable set, allowing scenes to follow one another seamlessly. When the production team took their bows, the crowd roared with applause.
It took a while, but Peter Gelb is finally learning what American audiences want, and giving it to them. And I hope he continues to learn. No experimental productions need apply at the MET. Metropolitan Opera audiences want meat-and-potatoes -- a kind of innovative conservatism that will hopefully deliver quality performances. For a house that finds itself in such economic strain no other remedy should be applied.
The drawing card for this production is soprano Lise Davidsen, whose vocal gifts sold out last season's Tristan und Isolde run and who will be Brünhilde in the MET's upcoming Ring Cycle. Lady Macbeth may not be the role that she will be remembered for, although she gave a satisfying performance throughout. It is obvious that she is not comfortable in the coloratura section of the "brindisi" ("Si colmi il calice") in the banquet scene. There were a few notes that were not particularly beautiful. However, her Lady Macbeth is a solid, believable creation, and serves as a perfect foil to Quinn Kelsey's blood-and-guts reading of the title role. Mr. Kelsey's voice has never been a beautiful instrument. I would not cast him as Giorgio Germont in Traviata or any role that requires refined, aristocratic singing. But when it comes to a Rigoletto or a Macbeth he becomes a force of nature. It doesn't always sound pretty, but it is honest go-for-broke singing. British tenor Freddie De Tommaso gets so little to do here. His big aria (his only aria) "Ah, la paterna mano" was sung with relish. It was great to finally hear a tenor voice. Ryan Speedo Green was disappointing as Banquo. All head voice, no middle to sustain him, and as a result a dry tone throughout his register. He is slated to sing Wotan in the upcoming Ring Cycle, and, if truth be told, I'm worried. Yannick Nézet-Séguin led the orchestra with his usual theatrical passion and flair.
This was a very successful Opening Night for the MET. Let's hope that it is also a very successful season. This institution, one of the finest and oldest in the city, needs every little bit of help if it is to survive.
