Macbeth
Giuseppe Verdi
None of his female characters were commented upon as extensively by their creator, Giuseppe Verdi, an ardent admirer of Shakespeare, as Lady Macbeth, a role as demanding vocally as it is in terms of acting. In her desire for power, she drives her hesitating husband to regicide. Once upon the throne, she tries to eliminate all those who might challenge her claim to it, before ultimately succumbing to madness. After her overwhelming role debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2023, Asmik Grigorian returns to the Großes Festspielhaus as Lady Macbeth. “A Lady Verdi would have dreamed of,” the vocal expert Jürgen Kesting wrote in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung about Grigorian’s interpretation, which brings out the demonic as well as the fragile aspects of this complex character. Opposite her, the Belorussian baritone Vladislav Sulimsky is an ideally cast Macbeth – a fearful, superstitious ruler who is easy to manipulate, a man whose ambition ends up breaking him. In his production, the director Krzysztof Warlikowski focuses on the psychological dynamic between the two spouses, who try to repress their bitterness at their childless state by unleashing a murderous power trip: the crown must replace the child in an attempt to save their emotionless relationship. After the murder of King Duncan, Banco and Macduff – both fathers themselves – become a threat; they must die in order for Macbeth to maintain his power.
In the revival of the operatic event celebrated by press and audience alike, Tareq Nazmi returns to his role of Banco and Charles Castronovo resp. Joshua Guerrero to that of Macduff. Philippe Jordan, whose conducting was highly acclaimed in 2023, once again leads the Vienna Philharmonic.
First published in the Festival insert of Salzburger Nachrichten