Verdi: Macbeth | Verrett, Cappuccilli, Ghiaurov - Abbado, Strehler (La Scala 1976)

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Francesco Maria Piave
Premiere: 14 March 1847, Teatro della Pergola, Florence (Original Version in Italian)
Language: Italian
Subtitles: None
Macbeth Libretto (English Translation): https://www.opera-arias.com/verdi/macbeth/libretto/english/
Macbeth Synopsis: https://www.opera-arias.com/verdi/macbeth/synopsis/

Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei, based on Shakespeare's play of the same name. Written for the Teatro della Pergola in Florence, Macbeth was Verdi's tenth opera and premiered on 14 March 1847. It was the first Shakespeare play that Verdi adapted for the operatic stage. Almost twenty years later, Macbeth was revised and expanded into a French version and given in Paris on 21 April 1865.

The first version of Macbeth was completed during the time that Verdi described as his "galley years," which ranged over 16 years and one that saw the composer produce 22 operas. By the standards of the subject matter of almost all Italian operas during the first fifty years of the 19th century, Macbeth was highly unusual. The 1847 version was very successful, and it was presented widely. The 1865 revision, produced in a French translation and with several additions, was first given on 21 April. It was less successful, and the opera largely faded from public view until the mid-20th century revivals. In Italian, the opera was given at La Scala in the autumn of 1865, but few, if any, others in Italy appear to have been presented. Since its revival in Europe in the 1960s, the revised version of Macbeth in Italian remains the preferred version for modern performances, although usually, the death scene from the first version is often interpolated in the last act.

Cast & Characters:
Piero Cappuccilli: Macbeth
Shirley Verrett: Lady Macbeth
Nicolai Ghiaurov_ Banco
Veriano Luchetti: Macduff
Antonio Savastano: Malcolm
Giovanni Foiani: Medico
Giuseppe Morresi: Sicario
Sergio Fontana: Araldo

Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala di Milano
Conductor: Claudio Abbado
Stage Director: Giorgio Strehler