Verdi – Macbeth
Zeljko Lucic; Anna Netrebko; René Pape; Joseph Calleja; Metropolitan Opera; Fabio Luisi
Deutsche Grammophon 073 5222
For me the most sublime moment in Macbeth is the Gran concertato just after the murder of King Duncan when out of the anguished a cappella chorus the orchestra finally joins in with a melody direct from heaven (and how beautifully did Sinopoli do it!), but that was nothing compared to the intense joy and outburst of the Met audience following Vieni! T’affretta, Anna Netrebko’s first salvo as Lady Macbeth. And that Sleepwalking Scene! Oh my! It was an inspired decision to revive Macbeth for the 2014 season with Netrebko as the lead soprano. The woman had never sung the role before, her voice more suited to the lyrical and coloratura repertory or so people thought. But they didn’t know Netrebko! After 2007, when she sang a few bel canto roles at the Met, she went back to Europe scoring triumph upon triumph in the most challenging prima donna roles: Manon in Berlin, Anna Bolena in Vienna, Donna Anna at La Scala. Nevertheless, here she is, Lady Macbeth in New York, seductive in her silk chiffon dress, packing the house again to capacity, her voice extending to a high D flat and also extending the Met’s sagging profits.
Fortunately, the rest of the cast is not outclassed by Netrebko’s radiance. The great basso René Pape (Banquo) is a distinguished credit to a rather short role (as he gets killed quickly) and so is the tenor, Joseph Calleja (Macduff), but at least he survives. Serbian baritone Zeljko Lucic (Macbeth) is a fine character actor with a strong voice, but no match for the great Italian baritones (e.g. Leo Nucci or Renato Bruson) of yesteryear. Exciting yet sensitively refined conducting by new Met principal conductor Fabio Luisi amply compensates for the still unsurpassed legendary Sinopoli reading.
