In 1847, Giuseppe Verdi was working on a piece unlike anything ever seen on the opera stage. To turn a dark, blood-soaked Shakespearean tragedy into an Italian opera was already a bold undertaking. But to go even further and create an opera that adhered closely to the character of the original rather than to established operatic forms seemed almost impossible. “I believe the time has come to abandon the usual forms and models,” Verdi wrote. Thus he ventured into the creation of a musical drama exploring psychological abysses amid a whirl of crime, guilt, and punishment, under the imposing English title of the original: Macbeth.

After a victorious battle, the general Macbeth encounters witches who hail him as Thane of Cawdor and as King of Scotland. The first honorary title proves true almost immediately through his unexpected appointment. But King of Scotland – was this a prophecy or even an invitation to seize power? Temptation takes hold, and Macbeth and Lady Macbeth murder the king in order to rule themselves. One crime leads to another. Instead of happiness, a trail of misfortune follows. All the witches’ prophecies prove deceptive, until Macbeth falls victim to his own delusion and Lady Macbeth goes mad under the weight of unbearable guilt.

In this work, Giuseppe Verdi develops his distinvtive style of Italian musical drama. He follows his two central characters into extreme emotional states – first euphoria and triumph, later fear and despair. Grand cantilenas and virtuosic coloratura stand alongside deceptive festivity, grotesque scenes, and ghostly apparitions that haunt Macbeth. The Italian director Damiano Michieletto, whose comedic production of L’ELISIR D’AMORE delighted audiences in Cologne, portrays Macbeth’s temptation and guilt through haunting imagery in this 2018 production.