The Metropolitan Opera Verdi Macbeth (2008)

Verdis admiration for Shakespeare led to such masterpieces as Othello and Falstaff and if the earlier Macbeth isnt on their exalted level its still a powerfully dramatic opera that hews closely to the originals story line The METs production retains the dark aura of the opera while updating it to a vaguely postmodern context So the witches are bag ladies in various stages of decrepitude with children in tow The Banquet Scene features lowered chandeliers a plethora of chairs and a slew of extras dressed in tuxedos and party gowns Macbeth sports a leather coat the soldiers are in drab brown uniforms and seem to have fingers on their triggers even when theyre supposed to be in nonthreatening situations Director Adrian Noble also has Lady Macbeth do an inordinate amount of writhing around and singing from a lyingdown position adding to the feeling that a less interventionist directorial hand might have generated more impact