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2005.1
Macbeth |
Music by Giuseppe Verdi (1847)
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave / Andrea Maffei OPERA HOUSE
5 performances
January 17(Mon)6:30pm, 20(Thu)6:30pm, 23(Sun)3:00pm, 26(Wed)2:00pm,
29(Sat)3:00pm 2005
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes |
Conductor: Riccardo Frizza *
Director: Noda Hideki
Scenery Design: Horio Yukio
Costume Design: Wada Emi
Lighting Design: Hattori Motoi
<MAIN CAST>
Macbeth: Carlos Alvarez
Lady Macbeth: Iano Tamar
Banquo: Osawa Ken
Macduff: Mizuguchi Satoshi
*Otaka Tadaaki is unable to stage. Alternatively, Riccardo
Frizza is taking his place.
Please refer to New
National Theatre News. |
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Background |
Macbeth is one of the works from the early years of Verdi
when he produced a string of masterpieces filled with patriotism after
the great success of Nabucco. Strongly attracted to Shakespearean
plays throughout his lifetime, in addition to Macbeth, Verdi wrote
the operas Otello and Falstaff. He concentrated
all his senses on the essence of Shakespearean drama and attempted
to bring music as close to the drama and psychology as possible –
so much so that when Macbeth was first performed, he even
emphasized that the singers should serve the Bard, and not the composer.
Filled with dramatic tension, the music is as gloomy and dismal as
the original play and effectively uses dramatic and powerful scena
rather than traditional fluent and flowery arias and light, airy recitatives.
In particular, the scena for the dialogue between Macbeth and his
wife and the scene of Macbeth being haunted by images of Banquo, followed
by the grand scena of Lady Macbeth walking in her sleep,
are the highlights of the opera. In this production, Noda Hideki,
a dramatist, stage director and actor, who is constantly leading contemporary
drama in Japan will direct opera for the first time and is bound to
attract public attention. Taking death as its theme, Noda’s
drama often ends in major characters dying in solitude. It will be
extremely interesting to see how he will depict human beings fight
with their fate within the restraint of music. Macbeth, will
be staged again in May 2004 as a new production, to become a part
of the NNTT’s repertoire. |
Synopsis |
It is Scotland in the 11th century. On their way home from a victory
in the war, Macbeth and his fellow general Banquo hear witches in
the woods predict that Macbeth shall be Thane of Cawdor and King of
Scotland and that Banquo shall be the father of kings. Upon Macbeth’s
return to the castle, Lady Macbeth, more ambitious than her husband,
persuades him to murder Scottish King Duncan, who is to visit the
castle to congratulate Macbeth on his victory. As predicted, Macbeth
is named King of Scotland, but the prophecy on Banquo worries him
and he also plots to kill Banquo and his son. At the banquet celebrating
his enthronement, he receives news from his assassins that Banquo
was killed but his son escaped. He is then haunted by images of the
dead and runs mad. When he goes to see the witches again and demands
that they tell him what the future holds for him, the witches say,
“Beware of Macduff,” “No man of woman born can harm
Macbeth” and “Macbeth shall never be vanquished till Birnam
Wood comes to Dunsinane.” Macduff, whose wife and son were killed
by Macbeth, rises in revolt against Macbeth together with Duncan’s
son Malcolm. The English soldiers, who are advancing and disguised
with branches taken from Birnam Wood, look like the wood closing in
on Dunsinane Hill. In the castle, Lady Macbeth is frightened by illusions
of her blood-stained hands and dies mad. Venturing his life for a
man-to-man fight with Macbeth, Macduff tells him that he was born
by Caesarean section and stabs Macbeth, who, with his fate sealed,
has lost his fighting spirit. |
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<Director> |
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Noda Hideki |
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<Main Cast> |
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Carlos Alvarez |
Iano Tamar |
Osawa Ken |
Mizuguchi Satoshi |
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