Opera 101: Spotlight on Macbeth
by Michael Egel

Composed in the winter months of 1847, Macbeth marked Verdi's first compositional foray into Shakespeare's work. While in the case of Otello and Falstaff Verdi benefited greatly from Arrigo Boito's (librettist) knowledge of the text, Macbeth was entirely Verdi's own conception of the play. Although the name of Piave appears as the librettist for Macbeth, Verdi made his own decisions about which scenes from the play he would use. Before letting Piave begin work, Verdi himself wrote out an entire libretto in the Italian language, only asking Piave to turn it into verse for musical setting. Calling the play "one of mankind's greatest creations," Verdi set out to create from the play a libretto that would have "extravagance, originality, brevity and sublimity." Of course the adaption of a play into an opera is never easy and often difficult changes and eliminations have to be made to the original in order to make room in the evening for the addition of music. In adapting Macbeth, the character of Lady Macduff and the famous episode with the porter, both prominent in the play, do not appear in Verdi's opera.

The notable expansion in the opera of the role of Lady Macbeth was not an accident. For Verdi, "Lady", as he invariably called her, was the dominant figure in the tragedy. Her role in the opera as the real instigator of the events of the tragedy owes nothing to Shakespeare. Much of Verdi's correspondence regarding the casting of the role of Lady Macbeth still exists and reveals his concern that the soprano performing this role be more concerned with vocally portraying the psychological state of the character rather than the qualities of fine singing. In a letter to the impresario/producer, he asked that Lady Macbeth not sing with the ‘voice of an angel' but rather the voice of a ‘she-devil.'

Verdi personally rehearsed the cast with maniacal detail. He chose the great baritone Felice Varesi for the title role himself. (Varesi would later go on to create the title role in Rigoletto.) He chose Marianna Barbieri-Nini for the role of Lady Macbeth who later remembered she had "for three months, morning and evening" attempted to impersonate "someone who speaks in her sleep, who utters words without moving her lips" while rehearsing the famous sleep-walking scene. Verdi's score contains explicit instructions about stage craft and scenery. Orchestral scores are filled with markings to create atmospheric effects in the orchestra pit that heighten the deepening gloom and terror of the plot. With Macbeth, Verdi marked a new level of attention to dramatic detail in opera performance.

At the time of the opera's composition, Italy was still a nation of city-states desiring to unite, but still oppressed - first under Napoleon, then French, Austrian and Russian domination. During this time of Risorgimento (Resurgence), the Italian people found a voice for unification in Verdi, and his operas contain a somewhat thinly-veiled call to arms and an outspoken devotion to the cause of Italian independence. The brutality of tyrants, the effect on its citizens, and a stirring call to duty by a hero are themes and events usually found in the early operas of Verdi regardless of the setting or the plot and Macbeth is no exception. It contains all of the typical outspoken devotion to the Italian cause that later won Verdi a seat in the Italian Senate once independance was achieved, this time in the disguise of Scottish refugees opressed by the tyrant Macbeth.

Macbeth was a success from its first performance in 1847. Audiences and critics alike were amazed by the despair and ferocity of the work. All across Italy, it began to be called "l'opera senza amore" (the loveless opera) and it remains one of the few contributions to the operatic repertory in which love is rarely, if ever, mentioned. So enthusiastic was that first audience that Verdi was called to the stage for over twenty curtain calls. Macbeth was eventually revised for Paris in 1865 and included the customary addition of a large ballet scene as well as several new arias. Although many of these additions were not entirely advantageous, the version that is most often performed today, and the one that will be performed this season at DMMO, is an amalgamation of that 1865 version - with most of the new arias, but leaving out the ballet of the witches!

Getting To Know You: David Neely

David will be conducting the performances of Macbeth and The Marriage of Figaro. He returns for his eighth summer with the Company, and was Co-Director of the Apprentice Artist Program for five years. Currently Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Kansas, he has also been on the faculty of the University of Texas. Employed as a coach and conductor for 11 years in Germany, he has conducted productions with opera companies in Bonn; Dortmund; Saarbrücken; Halle, Kaiserslautern; Bielefeld; Coburg; St.Gallen; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and has been a guest conductor with Sarasota Opera for the past four seasons. He has led concerts with the Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg (Bregenz), the Dortmunder Philharmoniker, the Bochumer Symphoniker, and the KU and University of Texas Symphony Orchestras. He holds degrees in Piano Performance and Orchestral Conducting from Indiana University, where he was a student of Bryan Balkwill, Thomas Baldner and Leonard Hokanson. Further studies include conducting at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati under Gerhard Samuel.

You have a fine history with Des Moines Metro Opera. What about this company is the most exciting to you?
I am pleased to be part of such a historically significant company in American opera, to be involved in bringing great works and performances to midwestern audiences, and being able to work with the wonderful and talented people that make up DMMO each year. It is one of the rare opera companies where people really care about and support each other in producing an artistic product, and one whose Artistic Director has always been truly dedicated to nurturing young talent, which is so important to the future of opera. I also like the immediacy of the theater and the unique experience it offers audiences.

Tell us about how your life's path led you to conducting and how you acquired those skills.
I knew I wanted to conduct from the age of 13 after a school teacher unexpectedly ordered me to take over a rehearsal. In college, I got a performance degree in piano and a graduate degree in orchestral conducting, both from Indiana University. A key experience there was playing the harpsichord for the recitatives in a mainstage production of Don Giovanni--that was my first real taste of opera from the inside, and I was hooked. After some additional graduate work at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, where I was the opera assistant, I moved on to a position in the German opera house system. My first years in Germany, where I was coaching and conducting 10 months out of the year, were a great finishing school. If someone had told that 13-year-old that his life would revolve around opera, he would have been incredulous. I only knew symphonic music at that age. Opera found me later and held on.

Conducting an opera orchestra requires terrific multi-tasking skills. How would you describe the role and responsibilities of the conductor involved in "managing" an opera score?
When I started doing opera I fell in love with the making-art-out-of-chaos aspect of it. Opera is, in my opinion, the summit of what one can do as a conductor, drawing on all of one's musical, leadership, accompanying, technical, theatrical and linguistic skills. It's the whole package, and immensely satisfying. I also happen to love singing and doing what I can to help singers perform at their peak.

You have extensive experience in ballet and symphonic conducting. How is this different from conducting for the opera?
Well, ballet has its very specific needs. Dancers need absolute consistency of tempo, which is quite different from opera where there is often some variation from one evening to another according to the needs of the singers or the particular flow of the drama. Symphonic conducting is wonderful with all the great repertoire, and I derive tremendous satisfaction from rehearsing and performing with orchestras. Sometimes, though, after a concert, which rarely has more than 90 minutes of music, I feel odd not going back out and conducting a 3rd act!

This season you will conduct both Verdi's Macbeth and Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. Are there special stylistic challenges for the conducting, as you move from one piece to the other?
First of all, I have to say that it's like a candy store, being able to conduct great works from two of the greatest opera composers in history in one season. It's not entirely unfamiliar to me to switch, since I used to alternate between works in the German repertoire system, plus there are usually different styles of works on symphony concerts. You have to learn to quickly think yourself into the next piece, go through it mentally, imagine the sound, the specific character. Macbeth and Figaro have quite contrasting styles--Mozart must be buoyant and comic, or lyric and yearning, even sometimes all of those at the same time. Verdi needs lyricism, energy, and physical power. But there is also great yearning in Macbeth, characters yearning for power or clarity of conscience. Actually, Mozart has lessons for all music, and there are moments in the Verdi that will no doubt require a Mozartian touch, and the Mozart will need some of the energy of Verdi. Hmm. You'll have to let me know if you can hear that.

What do you look forward to in conducting Verdi's Macbeth?
Trying to get the most out of the drama in the music and supporting the world class cast Dr. Larsen has assembled.

If you hadn't become a conductor, you would have become __________
A linguist. I love languages in a way that can annoy my friends and family.

What is the hardest piece you have ever had to conduct?
Probably the opera The Silver Tassie by the contemporary English composer Mark-Anthony Turnage. It had just premiered at English National when we did the German premiere in Dortmund. Very sophisticated rhythmically and drawing on many different styles, including rock and jazz. A wonderful work, and successful, but very challenging to sing, play, and conduct (I only had to do the latter).

What was your worst moment in the theatre?
Once, early in my time in Germany, a cast member in Die Fledermaus entered the stage before he was supposed to in a musical rest and dumbfounded the other cast members. They started improvising spoken text! I had to decide on the fly what to do, and whispered to the orchestra to skip ahead in the score to where that character is supposed to enter--measure 103--I'll never forget that. The whole thing probably took only 10 seconds, but it seemed like an eternity. It was my first time conducting for that company, too, and with no rehearsals; plus, there was an invited delegation from a French theater present, so I was already a bit nervous. It gave me quite a start, but I gradually realized that was probably the worst thing that was going to happen that evening. It turned out that no one in the audience noticed.

Tell us one thing nobody knows about you.
In the age of Facebook, do we have any secrets left?

How did you decide to be an opera singer? What do you love about opera?
BH: I was hired to be in the chorus of Opera Theatre of St. Louis at the end of my college years. The very first day of rehearsal I met my (future) husband and absolutely had the time of my life. Even though I had auditioned for programs and jobs up to that point, it was there that I KNEW this life was for me!

What do I love about opera??? EVERYthing! I love the way it moves people. I love how passionate people get about their favorite singers, recordings, operas, composers. I love how it makes me feel when I sing and how the feelings of the audience come across the orchestra pit to me. I love the timelessness of the music and stories. Mostly, I love that I can honestly say I'm the luckiest woman in the world because this is what I'm supposed to be doing!

TT: For me I remember quite clearly the moment I decided I wanted to be an opera singer. As a Music Education major at Oberlin Conservatory of Music I was privileged to sing in the chorus of Monteverdi’s Coronation of Poppea. It was while singing the “Do not die Seneca” Chorus in the first orchestra dress rehearsal, when I experienced a visceral response to that music and the drama of that moment. I knew I wanted to recreate as many moments like that as possible in my life. Before that point I remember being drawn to music through my church experiences growing up. I remember feeling goose bumps and chills when I heard the soloists sing "The Holy City" or "O Holy Night." I wanted to create that physical response in a listener and in large part, that is why I love opera. I love the musical theater aspect of what opera is all about. I am equally drawn to the theatrical and the musical components of what I do. In an ideal world, the two should be wedded together so an audience is unaware of the music-making or the acting, but rather wholly involved in the full sensory experience. Opera, when it is right, should be a feast for all of the senses. The intimacy of the Blank Theatre at Simpson College is an ideal setting for Des Moines Metro Opera.

What is your favorite role? What would your dream role be?
BH: Oh, this one is easy. I adore all the roles I sing so when I'm at Des Moines, my favorite role will be Lady Macbeth. Later in the year, it will be Norma or Turandot or Elizabetta or whichever role I'm singing. I already sing my dream roles!

TT: My favorite role is the opera I am performing at the time. For me, I need to feel that no other opera or character exists for me other than what I am preparing. I feel the Scottish King is a challenging and very rewarding role to sing. I have always maintained that some of the finest moments of singing Verdi are found in the duets. And for me, the duets, which I will share with Brenda in Macbeth, are a highlight of my entire season.

Regarding dream roles...I look forward to singing the other Verdi roles I have not sung yet. If DMMO plans a Simon Bocconegra, I may pay them for me to sing it. (Just kidding about the part of me paying!) I hope some day to be offered Athanaiel (Thaïs) and Don Giovanni. However, before these roles become reality, I will need more hours at the gym and more successful weeks at Weight Watchers.

How do you prepare each role? How do you get into each character?
BH: I know a lot of singers don't listen to recordings, but I do. I love to know what others have done before me. Performance practices change...ornaments, styles, even tempo choices...so I like to hear a lot of that. Of course, if there's a source work as there is in Macbeth, I read/study it. If it's a new role, I write out the words to help me memorize, which also helps with character. By the time I've done all that, I can usually rely on the rehearsal process, director and colleagues to get me fully into the character of the piece.

TT: The preparations of the roles are different really for each piece. Generally for a brand new role, after listening to it, I begin with the text, translating and writing in the entire translation into my score and taking note in the margins of different things as they occur to me. Ideally, I try to listen to as many different recordings as possible. The internet and technology has been a wonderful assistance to a singer's preparation. More specifically, YouTube has become a tremendous tool for this aspect of the preparation, as well. After pounding out the notes and working on my own as much as I can, I take it to a coach to work through the role. For a new piece I may take it to several coaches to get as many different ideas as possible. Since Macbeth is not a new role for me, I’ve been taking it to my primary musical coach who was also engaged previously at DMMO as Chorus Master, Harold Evans. Of course one needs to read the original source material, in this case the Shakespeare play. Also If I ever have a chance to see the play performed I will try to do that. For instance, the Shakespeare play is now being performed in Philadelphia and I hope to see it next week.