Maryland Lyric Opera delivered the first episode of its “Season of Verdi” on Friday night in Bethesda’s Strathmore Center, its first pandemic-free season in two years. Their performance of Macbeth, partially staged, featured an excellent cast of singer/actors, full orchestra and chorus, delivering a drama closely based on Shakespeare’s tragedy, complete with witches and ghosts, murders, and mayhem, decrying the lust of leaders for position and power. Most of all, what it offered up was the amazing music and arias that Giuseppe Verdi composed for this classic opera! And more Verdi is on the way from MDLO.
Verdi and his librettist, Francesco Maria Piave, with additional text by Andrea Maffei, closely followed the plotline of Shakespeare’s play (Verdi was so concerned with doing justice to the great Shakespeare that he asked his friend Maffei for substitute text). Macbeth is a general in Scotland in the twelfth century whose lust for power, emboldened and abetted by his wife Lady Macbeth, murders King Duncan in his sleep to ascend to the throne. They commit additional murders in their attempt to maintain the throne, and they begin to unravel under the weight of their guilt and the opposition of their countrymen. All of this is foretold to Macbeth in riddles by a coven of witches employing ghostly apparitions, adding great suspense and an eerie atmosphere to a very dark tale.
Photo 1: Lester Lynch as Macbeth. Photo 2: Jill Gardner as Lady Macbeth. Photos by Julian Thomas Photography; courtesy of Maryland Lyric Opera.
Verdi originally wrote Macbeth for performance in Italy in 1847, but he also wrote a version for performance in Paris in 1865, making changes and adding new material, including a ballet. The expert consensus is that the Paris version is the better work, and that is the most often performed one. Maryland Lyric Opera performed the 1865 version, without a ballet, but including Macbeth’s final aria from the 1847 version. Verdi wrote two other operas based on Shakespeare’s plays, Otello and Falstaff; both also remain in the modern repertoire.
One element of productions by Maryland Lyric Opera is that they feel familiar and impart, at least to me, a family atmosphere, in that they frequently include singer/actors that they have employed before, often using former graduates and trainees from their outstanding training program. Macbeth has four major roles, Macbeth; Lady Macbeth; Banco - Macbeth’s friend who comes to fear him; and Macduff - a nobleman who opposes Macbeth; the opera also has several minor roles. All the performers for these roles had previously worked with MDLO except for baritone Lester Lynch in the role of Macbeth.
Photo 1: Macbeth (Lester Lynch) is shocked to see that the ghost of Banco (Andrea Silvestrelli) is seated in his chair. Photo 2: Yi Li as MacDuff. Photos by Julian Thomas Photography; courtesy of Maryland Lyric Opera.
The renown Mr. Lynch was an inspired choice to play Macbeth. He has a rich, powerful voice that commands the stage. His singing and acting displayed well the many elements of Macbeth’s character, from a capable general to a cajoled husband to evil perpetrator to guilt-ridden murderer; he also had a few tender moments when his singing/acting and Verdi’s music actually made me feel a little sorry for him. Lady Macbeth did not elicit much in the way of sympahty; for her, murder was simply a means to an end; she relished her ascension over those in her way. MDLO’s Lady Macbeth was soprano Jill Gardner. I have seen her give several excellent performances in lead roles for MDLO and for Virginia Opera. As Lady Macbeth she was good, though not as good as I have seen her be previously. I thought at times her vocal ornamentation lacked full definition. However, she played the role of the alluring manipulator very well. She seemed to relish playing this role, and her important sleep walking scene was effective and is critical to the opera. Bass Andrea Silvestrelli was excellent as always, singing authoritatively and anchoring the drama as someone caught in the middle. He displayed good acting skills, making an eerie presence when he returned as a ghost after his murder arranged by Macbeth. Tenor Yi Li’s acting skills in the role of Macduff were not quite as impressive; however, he delivered a solo aria late in the opera that was one of the performance’s highlights. Tenor Mauricio Miranda as Malcolm, mezzo-soprano Manli Deng as Lady-in-Waiting, and baritone Jose Sacin as Doctor contributed effectively in supporting roles. The Maryland Lyric Opera Chorus led by Husan Park was excellent as always. The ensemble numbers backed by the full chorus were outstanding.
The Maryland Lyric Opera Orchestra led by Conductor Joseph Colaneri with the women’s chorus portraying Macbeth’s witches in the balcony. Photo by Julian Thomas Photography; courtesy of Maryland Lyric Opera.
The conductor for this performance was Joseph Colaneri who performs internationally and is well known for serving as the Music Director for the Glimmerglass Festival. Under his direction, the excellent Maryland Lyric Opera Orchestra displayed great finesse in its delivery of Verdi’s music and its coordination with the singers. I greatly enjoyed the orchestra and thought that it did full justice to Verdi’s magnificent music.
Ghostly apparitions conjured up by witches further darken the mood and add to the eeriness of Maryland Lyric Opera’s performance of Verdi’s Macbeth. Photo by Julian Thomas Photography; courtesy of Maryland Lyric Opera.
The limited staging for this performance was effective in supporting the drama; kudos to Visual Supervisor David Gately. Having the angelic sounding women’s chorus placed in the balcony while singing the part of the witches did take me a moment to adjust to the fact that this was a sinister group on this night. Verdi had his witches bearded, but the balcony was too far away for that to be effective. On the other hand, having the ghostly apparitions called up by the witches wear white masks enhanced the spookiness and dark nature of the play. The use of colored lighting to enhance the moods of different scenes was also a nice touch as was the use of flashing lights for lightning effects; kudos to Lighting Designer Stuart Duke.
Overall, this was another fine effort by Maryland Lyric Opera to bring high quality classic opera to the Maryland suburbs. MDLO seems to have settled in with a program of mostly concert versions of classic operas at Strathmore with the occasional fully staged opera in the Clarice at UMD. I get the same vibe from MDLO’s weekend performances at the Strathmore now that one might have gotten from the Boston Pops Symphony; it has become a community thing. It’s what you do on Friday night or Sunday afternoon in Bethesda.
The Fan Experience: Macbeth was performed on September 23 and 25 in the Strathmore Music Center. The concert hall is a beautiful structure that has outstanding acoustics for concert performances. Strathmore is conveniently located close to the Grosvenor Metro Stop on the Rockville Pike. Use of the parking deck is free on evenings and weekends. I have found parking there to be easy in and easy out.
MDLO anticipates announcing the remainder of its “Season of Verdi” in the next couple of weeks; all operas are planned for performances at the Strathmore and will be concert presentations with full orchestra and chorus. Thanks to Maryland Lyric Opera patrons and contributors, tickets for any seat in the house will remain $10 for students!.
For the first time, Conductor Louis Salemno was not in the pit for an MDLO performance. According to MDLO, Maestro Salemno and the company “have decided to go their separate ways”. I have enjoyed many fine performances with Mr. Salemno at the helm, performances that increased my appreciation of the music in operas, and I wish him the very best in his future endeavors.