For the first performance in their two-day visit to City Center, Teatro Nuovo, a company and training institution specializing in bel canto opera established by Will Crutchfield in 2018, mounted an electrifying rendition of Verdi’s Macbeth, the first Shakespeare drama that the composer transformed, 1847. He revised it in 1865 into the now-standard edition, premiered in Paris. While one doesn’t automatically include the bard’s ‘Scottish play’ as an example of bel canto, Verdi’s early work verges on the florid style associated with Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini. This no frills, semi-staged, period-instrument performance highlighted that connection, while Adam J. Thompson’s stark and shadowy projection designs, used as backdrops, enhanced the story’s dark mood. There were no sets and props. Most of the cast’s men wore tuxedos and, excepting Lady Macbeth’s blood-red gowns), women were dressed in black. English supertitles were projected onto the backdrops. The simplicity of the staging was highly effective at setting the fatalistic tone and focusing on the music.
Under Maestro Concertatore et Direttore Jakob Lehman, the orchestra was seated on the same level as the audience. Aligned in an early 19th-century arrangement that Crutchfield adopted from Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the first violins sat with their backs toward the spectators, facing the second violins, whose backs were toward the stage. The cellos, basses and brass were split on sides of the woodwinds.
Merging elements of the initial and revised versions of the score, the remarkably clear and vibrant performance frequently showcased the woodwinds, with the oboe and English horn delivering some especially plaintive passages. Evidence of Verdi’s more mature style were discernable in several of the arias. With a strong female lead, the opera often becomes Lady Macbeth’s show, celebrated for the sleepwalking scene in which she reveals her madness and guilt. However, despite the excellence of Alexandra Loutsion – who was at her best in the fiendish coloratura of ‘Trionfai! Securi alfine’ that Verdi replaced with the dramatic ‘La Luce Langue’, in which she unveils her twisted psyche – the evening belonged to Ricardo José Rivera, who gave a totally commanding portrayal – both vocally and dramatically – of the ambitious Scottish general who falls victim to the witches’ predictions. His rich and mellifluous baritone was most impressive in his menacing rendition of ‘Vada in fiamme’, his Act 3 aria replaced in 1865 by a duet between the Macbeths.
Other standouts included bass Cumhur Görgün as Banco (Banquo in Shakespeare) and the extraordinary tenor Martin Luther Clark as Macduff who nearly stole the show in his Act 4 ‘Ah! La paterna mano’, in which he expresses his regret for the sorry state of his country under the treacherous assassins. Coached by Derrick Goff, the Chorus took on a variety of roles – witches, assassins, messengers, Scottish nobles and refugees, English soldiers, and spirits of the air – and skillfully managed all.
Altogether this was a magnificent performance that proved Verdi was a masterful composer in all phases of his career.
The post Teatro Nuovo at New York City Center – Verdi’s Macbeth appeared first on The Classical Source.
