Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth, an opera about a power hungry tyrant listening to the prophecies of the witches named by Shakespeare as the Weird Sisters, speaks to the current political situation in the United States. Washington National Opera’s Artistic Director Francesca Zambello and General Director Timothy O’Leary made a prescient call in choosing this opera for the 2024-2025 season.
This WNO production interprets the role of the witches as a community of feminine spirits. While Director Brenna Corner imagines these spirits as victims of battles conducted by Macbeth and his comrades, the libretto says something else that deals more specifically with women’s lives. The horrible ways these spirits have died involved childbirth, heretical disbelief, and magic potions that backfired. As spirits, they continue to wreak havoc on the lives of men, ostensibly men of good character. The scene with witches begins with impressive projections on scrims that show a smokey, sinister terrain which then opens to the scene of the witches and spirits dancing in a thunder storm. Macbeth (baritone Etienne Dupuis) and his warrior colleague Banquo (bass baritone Soloman Howard) wander into this supernatural assembly where the witches deliver their prophecies to Macbeth and Banquo. Immediately the prophecies manifest such that Macbeth gains two of the three titles forecasted. Once Macbeth returns home, his wife Lady Macbeth (soprano Ewa Plonka) pushes him to kill King Duncan and claim the crown of Scotland as the witches predicted for his third title.
By the end of Act II, Macbeth has ordered Banquo killed based on the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s descendants will follow Macbeth’s reign as king. What Macbeth doesn’t know is that Banquo’s son has escaped when his father was murdered. At a banquet organized by his wife, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost sitting in Macbeth’s seat and talks to him. This scares away the guests, who think Macbeth has gone mad.
The second half of the opera (Acts III and IV) begins with another visit by Macbeth to the witches on a stormy night. This time their prophecies are mysterious and will be misunderstood by Macbeth. Lady Macbeth walks in her sleep and confesses to the horrors, she and her husband have committed. Two people of the court hear her. Macbeth learns that his wife has committed suicide and that his soldiers are saying that Birnam Wood is advancing on the castle which was one part of the witches’ prophecy. That Macbeth would not need to be afraid of anyone “of woman born” but he should beware of Macduff (tenor Kang Wang) then comes true when Macduff, who was ripped from his mother’s womb, slays Macbeth.
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The singing and acting by this talented cast was outstanding. Favorite singers were soprano Ewa Plonka as Lady Macbeth, baritone Etienne Dupuis as Macbeth, and bass baritone Soloman Howard as Banquo. Their singing and acting were memorable. The choral numbers, especially those comprising the spirits and witches, were compelling. The chorus was accented by four dancers, whose fluid body movements framed the group of spirits, creating a shimmering other worldly image.
This reviewer struggled with some of Verdi’s music which at times was like tunes piped into a beer garden (think umpapa) or an amusement park (think of the tunes played for the carousel ride). This type of instrumental accompaniment is a hallmark of Verdi’s early style. The way serious music was offset by the lighter fare was reminiscent of the daily political antics of the Trump show. Like Macbeth, Trump has promised revenge on his political enemies.
Karren L. Alenier
