![]() When Giuseppe Verdi set out to compose Macbeth, his tenth opera, he had no true Italian model. As these examples show, bringing Shakespeare to the operatic stage often involved substantial adaptation. ![]() ![]() And a year later, in 1868, French sensibility dictated that Ambroise Thomas needed to valorize Hamlet-few saw anything wrong with the character’s crowning as king at the end of the eponymous opera. After all, he gave us one of the best adapted endings when Juliet awakes for a few precious minutes in order to sing a sumptuous duet with Romeo before their inevitable death. But, without lovers who must go through hurdles to consummate their love, what would opera be like? There is a reason Charles Gounod in 1867 chose to concentrate on the two lovers in Roméo et Juliette and downplayed any aspect of politics from the original. It was not as if Verdi was known for any blatantly amorous scenes in his operas-quite the contrary. Despite its immediate success and subsequent popularity, an opera that involved no great love affair struck audiences as an oddity. ![]() FOLGER 266549“L’opera senza amore!” That was the Italians’ reaction to Verdi’s Macbeth when it premiered in Florence in 1847. Macbeth posta in musica da Giuseppe Verdi e per grata memoria dedicato al suo amatissimo suocero Antonio Barezzi Riduzione per Pianoforte solo de E. ![]()
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