United States Verdi, Macbeth: Soloists, Refrain and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera / Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor). Metropolitan Opera, New York, 5.10.2026. (ES-S)
‘There are solely three roles, and there can solely be three: Girl Macbeth, Macbeth and the refrain of witches’, Verdi insisted whereas revising Macbeth for Paris in 1865. Making her Metropolitan Opera debut, director Louisa Proske takes the composer at his phrase within the new manufacturing that opened the corporate’s 2026–27 season.
Her witches type a stressed, versatile collective physique, their jumps, turns and contortions responding remarkably properly to the alert rhythms of Verdi’s rating. They creep and swarm throughout the desolate panorama and stay current for a lot of the motion; certainly, at instances their absence appears extra conspicuous than their presence. The opening is especially placing: hovering over the our bodies of useless troopers, they appear virtually to feed on them, maybe accounting for his or her distinguished crimson lips. But for all of the kinetic power, their dramatic perform stays an historic one: they embody the inexorability of destiny, as in Greek tragedy.
Jon Bausor’s monumental revolving set locations the motion in a world without delay war-ravaged and post-apocalyptic. Giant niches carve out inside and exterior areas however stay framed by basically the identical monumental construction, a tool that ultimately turns into considerably monotonous. Montana Levi Blanco’s costumes introduce extra particular historic references, not at all times persuasively: at one level, Girl Macbeth’s elaborate ruff, pearls and exaggerated sleeves evoke the iconography of Elizabeth I, for causes that stay obscure.
Jorrell Lawyer-Jefferson’s choreography shouldn’t be restricted to the witches’ actions. His elegant leaps and twists for the troopers in battle had been typically charming, even when their dramatic objective was much less obvious. Nevertheless, inserting three dancers on the banquet desk for a superbly executed sequence of knee drops and turns, recalling a Caucasian folks dance, appeared decidedly excessive. At instances, the sheer variety of our bodies made the stage really feel overcrowded.
Proske’s conception of the witches stays her most compelling contribution, their pervasive presence giving the manufacturing an identification of its personal. In any other case, her staging affords loads of ambiance and theatrical power however few comparably contemporary insights into the characters and dramatic conditions.
On the middle of the efficiency was Quinn Kelsey’s Macbeth, sung with the darkish, burnished tone and easy authority which have made him one of many Met’s main Verdi baritones. Vocal weight was solely a part of the characterization: Kelsey allowed uncertainty and vulnerability to register from the outset, suggesting a person inclined to the witches’ prophecy slightly than one propelled by an already fashioned ambition. Ample energy was complemented by finely shaded dynamics and a variety of vocal colour. Within the third-act encounter with the apparitions, his mounting obsession with the prediction that Banquo’s descendants will inherit the throne remained strikingly managed, conveyed by an inward depth slightly than overt psychological unraveling. That restraint paid nonetheless larger dividends in ‘Pietà, rispetto, amore’, the place the grandeur of his voice gave method to a extra reflective, desolate tone as Macbeth confronted what his victories had price him.
Lise Davidsen’s comparatively latest exploration of Verdi invitations comparability with Birgit Nilsson, one other nice Scandinavian dramatic soprano whose formidable instrument prolonged past Wagner and Richard Strauss into the Italian repertory. Davidsen has approached the transition cautiously: after taking up Elisabetta in Don Carlo in 2023 and Leonora in La forza del destino on the Met the next yr, Girl Macbeth is one other position debut. She has herself spoken of the ‘elasticity and lightness’ this music requires, qualities she acknowledges are very totally different for her voice from these demanded by the repertory with which she is extra carefully related.
On Tuesday night time, her decrease register had adequate presence however lacked the brilliance and unmistakable individuality of her higher register. Her Italian favored seamless legato over incisive consonants. The great thing about her voice made this a Girl Macbeth extra imposing than toxic: menace and malevolence weren’t her most instinctive colours. Nor was her relationship with Kelsey’s Macbeth at all times completely convincing.
But Davidsen’s extraordinary assets had been evident all through. There was real dramatic incisiveness in ‘Or tutti, sorgete’ whereas ‘La luce langue’ revealed a large palette of colours and finely graded dynamics. In ‘Si colmi il calice’, she achieved appreciable lightness and mobility regardless of the dimensions of her voice. Her blazing excessive notes had been just one a part of the arsenal: she repeatedly drew the sound again into fantastically sustained pianissimos and formed phrases with exceptional delicacy. These qualities paid their biggest dividends within the sleepwalking scene the place Davidsen conveyed Girl Macbeth’s disintegration with haunting vocal subtlety, even when her bodily characterization remained maybe much less totally realized. She could also be extra naturally at house in Wagner and Strauss, however sheer technical mastery allowed her to satisfy most of Girl Macbeth’s very totally different calls for.
Ryan Speedo Inexperienced was a chic Banquo, his heat, finely formed singing maybe too refined for the manufacturing’s brutal setting however bringing explicit distinction to ‘Come dal ciel precipita’. Freddie De Tommaso’s Macduff made a vivid impression in ‘Ah, la paterna mano’, his ringing tenor conveying a father’s grief with urgency. He started with restraint, lending the opening phrases a reflective high quality earlier than giving the climaxes their full power.
The Metropolitan Opera Refrain mixed imposing weight with readability in Verdi’s distinguished choral writing. Yannick Nézet-Séguin drew an pressing, alert efficiency from the responsive Met Orchestra, sustaining rhythmic precision whereas bringing out the rating’s darker sonorities. The outcome had momentum with out haste, sustaining dramatic pressure all through a exceptional night – one which, early within the season, bodes properly for what’s to return.
Edward Sava-Segal
Featured Picture: Ryan Speedo Inexperienced (Banquo) in Verdi’s Macbeth © Marty Sohl/Met Opera
Manufacturing:
Manufacturing – Louisa Proske
Units – Jon Bausor
Costumes – Montana Levi Blanco
Lighting – Adam Silverman
Choreographer – Jorrell Lawyer-Jefferson
Refrain director – Tilman Michael
Solid:
Macbeth – Quinn Kelsey
Banquo – Ryan Speedo Inexperienced
Girl Macbeth – Lise Davidsen
Girl Macbeth’s Girl in Ready – Marcy Stonikas
Servant – Jeongcheol Cha
Malcolm – Jonathan Burton
Macduff – Freddie De Tommaso
Assassin – Christopher Job
Herald – Yohan Yi
Physician – Bradley Garvin
Fleance – Anu S. Alerte
Banquet Dancers – George Goderdzishvili, Information Darakhvelidze, Luka Kikacheishvili
