Buxton Festival - Verdi: Macbeth - Stephen Gadd and chorus (photo Robert Workman) |
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Jul 7 2017
Star rating:
Verdi's original version of Macbeth in a rare staging which brings out the subtlety and complexity of the work
Though Verdi's Macbeth is familiar in the opera house, his original version of the opera is somewhat less so. The 2017 Buxton Festival opened on 7 July 2017 with Elijah Moshinsky's production of the original 1847 version of Macbeth, designed by Russell Craig with Stephen Gadd as Macbeth, Kate Ladner as Lady Macbeth, Oleg Tsibulko as Banco and Jung Soo Yun as Macduff. Stephen Barlow conducted the Northern Chamber Orchestra.
Stephen Gadd & Kate Ladner (photo Robert Workman) |
The production made a virtue of budget and space constraints, it followed Verdi's stage directions but was not excessively grand; there was a single set but imaginative use of lighting (Mike Gunning), video (Stanley Orwin-Fraser) and movement (Caroline Pope). The juxtaposition of contrasting moods in Verdi's scenes was emphasised by swift transitions between scenes and there was a real concentration on individuals, characters and personenregie.
It helped having a fine singing actors in the lead roles. Kate Ladner was magnificently evil as Lady Macbeth whilst Stephen Gadd was profoundly jealous and not a little demented as Macbeth. The acting was not naturalistic, how could it be, and in moments like Macbeth's 'Is this a dagger I see before me' I was reminded of descriptions of David Garrick's acting (an important influence on Shakespeare-style in Verdi's day) and we really did see the whites of Gadd's eyes in a most disturbing manner.
Gadd's Macbeth was not loudly large-scale, it did not need to be, and he took advantage of the size of venue and orchestra to give us much intimate singing, but that did not mean a lack of intensity, far from it. Gadd really depicted Macbeth's gradual mental decline, starting from an intensely sexual relationship with Ladner's Lady (something which is not always obvious in productions) and developing into obsession. The banqueting scene at the end of Act One was rightly the climax of the first half, but there were many stunning small moments on the way. The second visit to the witches was initially done quite traditionally, but for the visions of the kings we were taken inside Macbeth's mind, with Stanley Orwin-Fraser's videos projected onto a scrim so that Gadd was seen surrounded by visions of his own making (after taking some sort of opiate given by the witches). This was a striking effect, but such was Gadd's profound performance that I wished we could have seen him more clearly. Macbeth's final aria, in this version given as the work's bleak conclusion, was a moving and rightly intense conclusion, a fine balancing with the Lady's sleepwalking scene.
Buxton Festival - Verdi: Macbeth - Oleg Tsibulko (photo Robert Workman) |
The young Moldovan bass Oleg Tsibulko made a stylish Banco, his distinctive timbre reminding me of a young Sergei Leiferkus. Tsibulko sang the role with an elegant sense of line, real nobility and suitable intensity. This was one of those performances that made you regret that Banco died so early. This was Tsibulko's UK debut, and he is certainly a singer that I look forward to hearing again.
Buxton Festival - Verdi: Macbeth - Kate Ladner (photo Robert Workman) |
The chorus (including the festival young artists) were hard working, and there was rarely a moment when they were not 'on' even scene changes and set shifting were in character. In the big moments they filled the theatre with sound, and the women were particularly impressive as the witches combining vivid chorus work with Caroline Pope's imaginative movement. For the opening witches scene the level of lighting was so low that the surtitles were brighter and balance issue that could do with tweaking.
Buxton Festival - Verdi: Macbeth - Jung Soo Yun & company (photo Robert Workman) |
Recommended recording - Verdi's 1847 version of Macbeth with Rita Hunter, Peter Glossop, BBC Concert Orchestra, John Matheson on Opera Rara, available from Amazon.
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