One of the great parts of presenting an opera as multi-layered as Verdi’s “Macbeth” is the discussions during the tea breaks at rehearsals! We shared a well-earned cuppa with our Lady Macbeth, Beatrice Danesfield, and discovered she has an unusual theory about her character’s motivation. Beatrice believes that Lady Macbeth’s behaviour possibly comes from boredom rather than ingrained evil.

She explains further: “Lady Macbeth is a sharper and brighter person than anyone else in the mediaeval castle. She is not manipulative by nature, but things don’t get done if she doesn’t set them off and see to the details. (Ed’s note: we know how that feels. don’t we ladies?)

“She is married to a man who could do so much better, if he only had a backbone and a vision for the future. She sees a marvellous opportunity occur – to become queen – and it is so easy to make it happen. The old king is already a guest in her castle, killing him is such an obvious thing to do, isn’t that what the prophecy implies anyway? Her husband hasn’t got he guts to do it, and he is so SLOW. So, she grabs the dagger, comes back in a few seconds, job done,  just wash the hands, and “opra anchessa andra in oblio”.

“Now, she finally has something important to do. She feels in control. The damp, grey castle is suddenly alive. The second murder brings her and her husband back together, as she remembers how she married him because of his courage: “Ah, ricognosco il tuo coraggio antico”. At last, they set off to do something together, like a marriage counsellor would have told them to do.”

Now, I’m not sure most marriage counsellors would sanction murder as relationship therapy, but we see the point, Beatrice!

To discover more about Lady Macbeth’s motivations, book your tickets NOW for Verdi’s “Macbeth” at St James Piccadilly this Saturday, 24 October 2009. There are still a few seats left at our special online booking price of £15, so snap yours up before they are all gone!

We’ve been so busy with preparations for the forthcoming performance of Verdi’s “Macbeth”, we’ve had no time to blog! So, here’s an update from the rehearsal room.

The cast really enjoy working with each other, with the two tenors, Macbeth and Macduff, matched to perfection.  The strong, heroic tenor of John Upperton, currently singing in “Gianni Schicchi” at the Royal Opera House, is perfectly complemented by the youthfully innocent tones of our Malcolm, Yuri Sabatini.

Stefan Unterleithner, our Banco, arrived from Vienna just for our rehearsals. His young, resonant bass-baritone is so free and bold, it really is going to impress.

Beatrice Danesfield is getting more and more into the role of Lady Macbeth. She says she now knows exactly how Lady Macbeth thinks and why she does what she does. This is a bit worrying…

Robert Presley is Macbeth. He spins the velvety legato line quietly in his final aria – and you just know how much it hurts to see your life turn to nothing. Awesome in the traditional meaning of the word! However, we do wonder if he’s getting too much into the role sometimes – his favourite phrase at moments of crisis is “Where’s that dagger”!

We still have some “Macbeth” tickets left at our special online booking discount of 25% off, so click now and save!

English Opera Singers present Verdi’s “Macbeth” in concert

24th October 2009 at 7pm, St James Piccadilly

dagger image: www.a-work-of-art.net

It’s hard to research anything much in opera without encountering Winton Dean, who wrote many a wise word in his time, mainly on Handel. Imagine our delight here at English Opera Singers, therefore, to discover a meaty comparison of the original play and Verdi’s operatic setting, in an essay on “Shakespeare in Opera”. Frankly, to paraphrase his last paragraph or two would be a waste of time, so we’ll share his insights almost in full!

“The opera does seriously challenge the play in the stature of the two principals, especially Lady Macbeth,… and the screwing-up of suspense at moments of climax – the dagger speech, the murder-duet, the entry of Banquo’s murderer during the banquet.. and many others. Verdi achieves this by dramatic declamation, still more by intensification of the harmony and darkening of the orchestral colour …

“We know that he (Verdi) attached enormous importance to ‘Macbeth’… and its manner of presentation. A a time when bel canto singing was regarded as the chief justification of opera he not only chose a subject without love interest, but rejected certain singers because their voice was too good… He continually urged both artists to study the words and let the music come of itself.”

Needless to say, our principal singers here at English Opera Singers have been chosen because they sing superbly AND have studied the libretto AND can act their socks off!

See the proof for yourself at our concert performance of Verdi’s “Macbeth” on Saturday 24 October at St James’s Piccadilly. Remember, you can save 25% on the ticket price -just book your English Opera Singers tickets online .

picture of Lady Macbeth statue in Stratford-on-Avon by Sheep Purple at flickr.com

One of the challenges facing our cast at English Opera Singers is how exactly to portray our characters in a concert version of this opera. After all, you don’t have the benefit of scenery or costumes, or indeed a director as such.

However, we think this is actually a real virtue, because we can base our interpretations on what Verdi himself wanted his singers to sound like. Luckily, the composer was a bit of a control freak, and wrote many letters to his original cast, with detailed instructions. (He even held a last minute piano rehearsal for the main duet, minutes before curtain up on the dress rehearsal – we won’t be doing that!)

With the character of Macbeth, Verdi was keen that the oppressive and spooky atmosphere would be at the heart of the singing.
“Remember that it is night; everyone’s asleep; so his duet should be sung sotto voce but in a hollow voice such as will inspire terror.  Macbeth himself will sing one or two phrases in full voice as though carried away for the moment… The orchestra will be very quiet and therefore you two on stage will have to sing with your mutes on.”

For the revised version of the opera presented in Paris in 1865, Verdi was determined that his Lady Macbeth should sound very different to what audiences would have expected:
“I would rather that Lady’s voice were rough, hollow and stifled … Both duet and sleepwalking scene should not be sung but rather acted and declaimed in a voice that is hollow and veiled.”

So, come and see how our talented singers get their teeth around those instructions at our concert performance of Verdi’s ‘Macbeth’, on Saturday 24 October. For full details, and the chance to save a massive 25% on ticket prices by booking online, go to www.englishoperasingers.co.uk.

Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, by John Singer Sargent; those are seriously scary eyes....

At English Opera Singers, we’ve been doing a little research into the ‘real’ Macbeth, and it’s no surprise to discover that Shakespeare almost completed created the story from mere fragments of fact. Mind you, since every biopic film these days seems to do the same, i.e. ‘based on a story’, we guess the Bard was just part of a trend! Verdi, of course, continued the tradition, adding scenes and increasing the witches from a budget-friendly trio to a cackle of 18…

Let’s start with:

• The killing of King Duncan by the murderous Macbeths at their castle. Wrong. Duncan died in battle in 1040, possibly killed by Macbeth, who at the time was commander of the King’s army. He succeeded to the throne because Duncan’s son, Malcolm, was just a child at the time.

• Macbeth the repentant sinner. Probably more accurate, as the original Macbeth, or “mac-Bethad” was a devout Christian who made a pilgrimage to Rome in 1050, the first Scottish king ever to do so. (The Dead Macbeths in Italy, now there’s a sequel…)

• Malcolm defeats Macbeth in battle. Not at at their first clash anyway, as Macbeth managed to hang on to power for three years after the battle at Dunsinane. It was second time lucky for Malcolm, who killed Macbeth outside Aberdeen in 1057. Macbeth was buried on the island of Iona.

• Lady Macbeth planned the lot. Of course, if Duncan was killed in battle and not at the castle, it is highly unlikely that Lady Macbeth had any hand in his death whatsoever. Shakespeare based his scheming leading lady’s actions on the murder of King Duff by Donwald whilst the king was his guest, which happened seventy years before the real Duncan’s death. The Lady Macbeth we see in the opera is the creation of Shakespeare, writ large by Verdi.

At least Shakespeare changed her name. Would you fear her so much if you knew her real name was Gruoch? Thought not…
Buy tickets for our concert version of Verdi’s Macbeth on Saturday 24 October online, and save 25% on ticket prices at the door. Now that’s a bargain even a Scotsman couldn’t resist!

The team here at English Opera Singers HQ have just come across a wonderful article written by Miles Kington for The Independent back in 2002*, which aims to answer one of our most burning operatic questions…

If Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is superstitiously called by performers “the Scottish play” in order to avoid the use of the name of Macbeth, why is Verdi’s opera Macbeth not known as “the Scottish opera”?

And Kington’s reply?

“Because actors and opera singers have an essentially different attitude to their shows. Actors, however irresponsible, want it to go well. Singers, however serious, are usually bored with their opera and want it to go interestingly badly. Almost all opera people dream of ending their days by writing a book called ‘Worst Opera Disasters’. So they are all willing to take the risk of calling it Macbeth, in the vague hope it will cause a catastrophe. Next, please.”

Next indeed, Miles! In fact, there is a long list of disasters associated with the play, and far less for the opera, so watch this blog for some of the best.

Remember, you can buy tickets for Verdi’s Macbeth on Saturday 24 October online, at the English Opera Singer’s website. And you won’t need to cross your fingers or chuck salt over your shoulder to get the best seats in the house!

• read the full article at http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/miles-kington/some-deadly-metaphors-605407.html

Image by by Will Humes at flickr.com

English Opera Singers had their first rehearsal today, and according to Beatrice Danesfield, our Lady Macbeth, it was thrilling, exciting and just a little spooky…

“Just had my first rehearsal with my ‘other husband’ Macbeth, sung by baritone Robert Presley. We sang the whole opera through, Robert just IS Macbeth. The right sound, the right physique, the right age. You totally believe him.

In fact, I find it difficult to boss him around, as he is such a nice man! He put up my music stand, brought me a lamp (due to yet another grey summer’s day, or was it just the Macbeths spreading darkness around them?). In the break, he made us ginger tea in a pretty pot with lovely cups. And I kept being nasty to him, calling him a coward and shaming him at every opportunity! It felt awful.

During the vengeance duet, which is pretty loud and violent, something in the kitchen fell off and made an awful noise. We are soon going to stop laughing at those things, the darkness and things falling off walls. This play is soaked with evil….

Then the Macbeths had lunch. And no, it was not rare meat, but hummus with falafel topping. Lady Macbeth had a side order of smoked aubergine. With fresh mint tea. What would Verdi say to that? And, indeed, Shakespeare?…”

Watch this blog for more backstage insights into our preparation for Verdi’s “Macbeth” or book your tickets for Saturday 24 October and save a massive 25% off the normal price now!

English Opera Singers are proud to announce their next opera in concert performance at St James Piccadilly will be “Macbeth” by Verdi, on Saturday 24 October 2009, at 7pm.

Our international cast includes performers who have sung at major opera houses across the world, including San Fransisco Opera, Opera de Bauge, English National Opera and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, plus appearances in major venues in Vienna, Valleta, Provence, the Lebanon, Cyprus and Finland!

BOOK NOW AND SAVE 25%
Book English Opera Singers Macbeth tickets online today and save a massive 25% off the usual ticket price, just £15 for international soloists in a world-famous London venue. Bargain!

MACBETH
Giuseppe Verdi
Saturday 24 October 2009 at 7.00pm
St James’ Piccadilly, London, W1J 9LL
BOOK NOW!

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