It says something when the witches opening Macbeth (1847) are so delightful you want them to stay on the stage for the rest of the performance; initially I thought the dancers and female members of the Washington National Opera’s Chorus had stolen the show. However, in addition to the winsome witches, yet to come was the stunningly attractive sets and costumes, the great singing with Verdi’s brilliant music delivered to perfection, and even a battle scene at the end with the good guys winning. Wow, that’s entertainment! The only thing lacking was John Wayne playing the hero Macduff (…what, Matt Damon now?), but no way that Wayne or Damon could deliver Macduff’s aria of pain as drop dead beautifully as tenor Kang Wang. I approached attending this production with a considerable level of foreboding; a tragedy isn’t exactly what I want to see right now. Yet, I left feeling great and would enjoy seeing this production again. Well, on reflection maybe one thing was lacking.
The murderous new royalty, King Macbeth (Étienne Dupuis) and Lady Macbeth (Ewa Plonka) of Scotland. Photo by Scott Suchman; photos courtesy of Washington National Opera.
Hyperbole and joking aside, this Macbeth by Washington National Opera achieves excellence in many ways. Giuseppe Verdi was a great admirer of Shakespeare, and his opera based on the play with librettists Francesco Maria Piave and Andrea Maffei does justice to the play, following the story line closely, with some deletions and changing the ending slightly, offering gratitude and praise to the good guys. The play tends to be a more tightly focused psychological drama about the corruptibility of highly ambitious men and women.
This production directed by Brenna Corner fashions the scenes compellingly to tell the story of a would-be king Macbeth and a would-be queen Lady Macbeth who give in to their ambitions, willing to use murder (as many as necessary) to advance their goals, but falter as they become increasingly erratic, racked by guilt. Suspicious Scottish compatriots realize what is happening to the kingdom and rise to take arms against them. The plot cleverly uses a supernatural element of a coven of witches providing Macbeth misleading predictions to add a theatrically compelling, tension-building fatalistic element. I suspect that those who have not seen the play and the opera multiple times will be drawn into the story in this production. Having seen the play and the opera many times, I was not one of those, more of an observer now commenting on the replay of a game when the outcome is known. I think the dramatic impact was secured for most attendees (it worked for my wife), though I focused more on other elements of the production.
photo left: Soloman Howard as a disillusioned Banquo. photo right: Kang Wang as a grieved Macduff. Photos by Scott Suchman; photos courtesy of Washington National Opera.
Shakespeare used words and poetry to place emotion in the story and to make it entertaining, while Verdi largely employs music to convey those elements. The music in Macbeth is melodious and beautiful, and one marvels at Verdi’s ability to use music to infuse the lyrics with such feeling and drama. Macbeth reminded me of Verdi’s Rigoletto in that regard. Interestingly, I enjoyed the music in Macbeth just as much even though it lacks hummable tunes like “Donna e mobile” in Rigoletto, perhaps reflecting Verdi’s movement in Macbeth to a more dramatically cohesive style. The music was brilliantly played by the Washington National Opera Orchestra led by Maestro Evan Rogister, as fine a rendering of Verdi as I have heard. Because I do not speak Italian, I cannot say how well Shakepeare’s poetry was translated by the librettists. The supertitles in English projected overhead were lacking in poetry but remarkably clear in conveying meaning; kudos to Kelley Rourke. Some of Shakespeare’s lines of poetry from the play Macbeth were shown on a screen covering the stage while scene changes took place, effectively sustaining the mood and keeping the audience engaged.
photo left: Ètienne Dupuis as a blood stained Macbeth. photo right: Ewa Plonka as Lady Macbeth under watch sleepwalking and hallucinating in the castle. Photos by Scott Suchman; photos courtesy of Washington National Opera.
Singing in opera can be such a joy when it all works, the acting is convincing, the voices are right, the singing is excellent technically and emotionally, the ensemble numbers work, and the timing between the singers and the orchestra is spot on. That was the case on Wednesday night. It was just sheer fun to sit back and take it all in. Baritone Étienne Dupuis has a sound befitting a king, sang well, and gave us a wavering assassin, a paranoid and then embittered failed monarch. Soprano Ewa Plonka gave another stunning WNO performance singing and acting, last seen as Turandot. She gave us a ruthless Queen who prods her husband to action using belittling accusations and who herself descends into madness as she sees it all falling apart. Her singing was a highlight of the evening. Solomon Howard’s base voice was an adornment for the performance, while he provided a stalwart Banquo, a friend who comes to suspect, then fear Macbeth. I have already mentioned tenor Kang Wang, who as General Macduff, sang the showstopper aria of the evening, ridden with pain over the murder of his wife and family by Macbeth’s henchmen. The supporting singers and characters made up of Cafritz Young Artists added very effectively to the production.
The staging of Macbeth was clever and attractive with crisp movements by actors and staff. A scaffold with dramatic lines reminded me of paintings Mondrian might have made representing dark forces, but it was also an interlocking puzzle that could shape shift into a forest, a castle room and banquet hall, and a battlefield, while lighting and images on towering draping curtains were mood influencers. Well done director Corner, scenic designer Erhard Rom, lighting designer A. J. Guban, and projection designer S. Katy Tucker!
The winsome witches of Birnam Wood (female members of the WNO Chorus and the WNO Corps Dancers). Photo by Scott Suchman; photo courtesy of Washington National Opera.
Let’s go back to those witches for a moment. Chorus master Steven Gathman did one of his finest jobs for this production. The singing in their big opening scene (Shakespeare used only three witches) was delivered crisply in tune with both the orchestra and movements of the dancers. This team consisted of the WNO Orchestra, female members of the WNO Chorus, and the WNO Corps Dancers; kudos to all. Their return in force for the second half was much darker but still delightful. Verdi typically made great use of the chorus in his operas, and the entire WNO Chorus, men and women, was stunningly beautiful in the banquet scene and the closing battlefield scene. An interesting thing about the witches: what did Shakespeare, Verdi, and director Corner envision for them? In the opera, were they spirits, apparitions, or witches? Did Macbeth really see them or imagine them? After all we know he saw ghosts. We know three wearing bird beaks were apparitions of deceased victims of the foul deeds. And intriguingly, did they predict the future, or did they maneuver it?
My opening paragraph begins “It says something…” and ends “maybe one thing was missing.” No question that this is one of the most entertaining productions of Macbeth that you are ever likely to see. My question is how does it rate in terms of intended impact? What lesson were we intended to learn and how well was that lesson delivered? How forcefully does the emotional impact land with so much that is eye catching and ear pleasing taking place around the psychological drama, the focus in its midst. Was there a call to action? Was the tragedy overridden by the fun? Was the loud applause at the end gratitude for being moved or mainly an appreciation for how well done and entertaining the performance was? I am too jaded by previous experience to say, but I think it is a fair question to ask. But, we’ll always have the witches…
The Fan Experience: Washington National Opera scheduled performances of Macbeth for November 13, 15, 17, 18, 23. The opera is sung in Italian with supertitles in English projected overhead. The performance lasts about two hours and 45-minues with one twenty-five minute intermission. A pre-opera talk was available one hour before curtain time for ticket holders. Tickets remain available and can be accessed at this link. The digital program book for Macbeth can be accessed at this link.
Parking in the Kennedy Center is typically plentiful at around $25 per day, with a small discount for Kennedy Center members when reserved ahead of the day. The Metro to Foggy Bottom and the free red Kennedy Center buses, from there to the Kennedy Center running every 15 minutes, are an excellent option. There is an advantage in getting there a bit early. KC frequently has multiple performances on its different stages overlapping that can create traffic jams.
There are snack stands in the main lobby, and on the Terrace level, the KC Café offers food cafeteria style at moderate prices; fine dining is available on the Terrace level in the Roof Terrace Restaurant; a discount is available to KC members. Food and drinks except water are not allowed inside the opera house, but you can purchase reusable capped containers with your drinks that you can take inside. Take the container back with you on your next KC visit to get a discount on your drink.