With twelve minutes of standing ovation, standing ovations and a painting of roses by Anna Netrebko, the audience at Milan’s La Scala celebrated the season’s opening with Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Macbeth” on Tuesday night. Italian director David Livermore, who presented the highly dramatic opera in a contemporary setting, was booed and whistled.
“The tragedy of Macbeth does not take place in medieval Scotland. The ambition and brutality of the protagonist is evident in a terrifying city of our time or the near future. Macbeth and Banquo are general managers in suits and ties”, commented the Milan daily Corriere della Sera “Step. Wearing The heroes of the movie are fashion inspired by the fashion of the forties.
“Directed by Davide Livermores lives in two dimensions. The first is the performance attended by the audience in the theater. The second dimension is being reinvented through film and the digital magic of the Rai 1 audience. Thanks to the technological tricks and video games included in the design, the Romanian daily La Repubblica commented. The interior of the micro-camera and virtual walls, which are superimposed and mixed with concrete structures, what you see on stage is partly different from what is happening live.”
The Russian-Russian soprano Netrebko, who danced in a cage-like elevator, a symbol of strength, was excited about the premiere. “It’s a great modern trend that gets better with every performance. It’s a modern show that takes opera into the future,” the singer said.
Director Livermore has reacted calmly to the criticism. The director explained, “Verdi was not afraid of boos and censorship. We are proud of the show. The birth of something new is always a bit painful.”
With the season opener, Scala is celebrating its new beginning, after canceling last year’s traditional show and replacing it with a festive evening on TV without an audience in the theater. Dominic Meyer, Director of Scala, emphasized, “The entire theater worked with great enthusiasm at the premiere. We did everything to ensure the health of Scala’s staff and audience.”
Among the evening’s guests was Italian President Sergio Mattarella, whose seven-year term ends next February. The audience applauded the president for six minutes and invited him to accept the extension of the mandate. However, Mattarella, 80, has repeatedly stressed that he is not ready for a second term.
The Spanish show was also attended by Placido Domingo. According to media reports before the show began, Domingo said, “It’s great to be here. I debuted in Scala 52 years ago, it was an incredible feeling. Scala is a unique theater and ‘Macbeth’ is an extraordinary opera.” .
“Macbeth” has been presented four times at Scala’s season opener, the last time being in 1997. With this year’s production, Scala wraps up the Verdi youth opera trilogy after opening the season with Giovanna Darko and Attila years earlier. With the song “Macbeth”, La Scala celebrated its 70th premiere on December 7, the day of Saint Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan. Prior to 1951, the Scala season traditionally opened on December 26.
(Service – www.teatroallascala.org)
