Lyric Opera 2021-2022 Issue 1 Macbeth

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 14 players know that my approach is very true and honest, but also direct, and not subject to the “old rules” of [interpreting the Italian repertoire]. I am a revolutionary in the sense that I am committed to bringing out what’s really in the score, not just merely recreating [spurious] performance practices that have come down to us from recordings and throughout the last century. The Chorus knows I am very demanding about searching out and communicating the meaning of the words, especially in Verdi; in one rehearsal, I spent an hour and a half focusing solely on the text. This is not what an “antique- tradition conductor” does! Sometimes, traditions that arose later in the nineteenth century and into the verismo era can contaminate a “pure” reading of Italian Romantic opera. MACBETH WAS PIVOTAL IN VERDI’S DEVELOPMENT AS A COMPOSER FOR THE STAGE. THE NEW PRODUCTION YOU ARE DOING HERE WITH SIR DAVID MCVICAR, BASED ON THE REVISED VERSION VERDI PREPARED FOR THE PARIS OPERA IN 1865, WILL BE GIVEN NOTE- COMPLETE, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE BALLET MUSIC. HOW DO YOU ASSESS THE OPERA FROM A MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC STANDPOINT? Opera-goers sometimes forget that a big part of the 1865 Macbeth is actually early Verdi. The revised music accounts for maybe 40 percent of the opera, but the remaining 60 percent is from the 1847 original. Two years separate the composition of the original version of Macbeth and Luisa Miller (1849), and those were crucial years in Verdi’s stylistic development. The 1847 Macbeth sounds more modern and challenging than Luisa Miller . I’m sure the spectral, fearful atmosphere of Macbeth red Verdi’s deepest imagination. Already in 1847 he was using compositional devices, such as chromatic scales, that were more advanced than anything else he was writing during that period. Listen, for example, to how he uses the piccolo and clarinet in their lowest registers to create a dark and scary effect. Verdi’s orchestral writing speaks directly to the audience, whether it’s conveying horror, terror, victory, or vengeance. Maestro Mazzola in the pit with the Lyric Opera Orchestra for the dress rehearsal of Verdi’s Luisa Miller in Lyric’s 2019/20 Season. Todd Rosenberg