''Macbeth'' is an opera in three acts, with music by Ernest Bloch to a libretto by Edmond Fleg, after the eponymous play of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. Bloch composed the opera between 1904 and 1906, but it did not receive its first performance until 30 November 1910 by the Opéra-Comique in Paris with Henri Albers in the title role and conducted by François Ruhlmann. Alex Cohen has written of quarrels within the cast that contributed to the opera's poorly received premiere.

Performance history

After the premiere, the opera was performed 15 times through January 1911, but then was withdrawn.

Romain Rolland Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and Mysticism, mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary pro ...

studied the score and communicated his admiration to Bloch in June 1911. Guido M. Gatti has compared elements of Bloch's opera to the music of

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

. He has also written of the different treatments of the Macbeth story by

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

and Bloch in their respective operas on the subject, with Verdi being more "realistic" and Bloch being more in keeping with the symbolist era in art at his time. After the premiere production, the opera was staged in 1938 in Naples, but was then banned on orders of the Fascist government. Subsequently, the opera was produced in Rome in 1953, and in Trieste. The opera was staged, in English, at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

of Music in New York under the direction of John Houseman, in May 1973. Peter Herman Adler conducted and the singers included L. Carlson, H. Barnsley, R. Termine, F. Burchinal, M. Li-Paz and W. White. The University College Opera of University College, London, performed the English language premiere of ''Macbeth'' in the UK in March 2009. The US premiere by a professional opera company was given by the Long Beach Opera in June 2013 in a production by Andreas Mitisek with Benjamin Makino conducting. That same production was staged by the Chicago Opera Theater in September 2014 with Francesco Milioto conducting. The opera was staged, in the original French, at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

in December 2014 under the direction of Dona D. Vaughn with Laurent Pillot conducting.

Roles

Synopsis

The story is essentially that of the

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

play, with the five acts compressed to three. The opera contains seven ''tableaux'', with the prelude comprising the first tableau, and each of the three acts containing two tableaux.

Recordings

Complete recordings conducted by Alexander Rumpf and Friedemann Layer have been produced. A full recording of a performance in 1997 was issued in 1999 (Musicales Actes Sud OMA34100) with Jean-Philippe Lafont, Markella Hatziano, Jean-Philippe Marlière, Jacque Trussel, Christer Bladin, Philippe Georges, Marcel Vanaud, Sophie Fournier, Hanna Schaer, Ariane Stamboulides, Wojtek Smilek, Annie Varville, Franck Bard, Ferijs Millers, Andris Gailis; with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon; Choeur de la Radio lettone; Friedemann Layer, conductor A recording exists with Heinz Rehfuss as Macbeth and Lucienne Devallier as Lady Macbeth, with Ernest Ansermet conducting the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.World Cat : Macbeth scenes from the opera
accessed 9 September 2015.

References

External links

* {{authority control Operas by Ernest Bloch Operas French-language operas Music based on Macbeth Operas set in Scotland 1906 operas Opera world premieres at the Opéra-Comique Operas based on works by William Shakespeare