New Verdi "Macbeth" Production at New York's Metropolitan Opera Comes to Latvian Cinema

The Metropolitan Opera in New York has mounted a new production of "Macbeth", the opera by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. It is the first work at the opera house by German director Luise Proske. At Forum Cinemas, viewers can watch it live on 17 October at 20:00, or in repeat screenings on 21 October and 4 November, both at 17:30.

The cast

American baritone Quinn Kelsey sings the title role, and Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen plays his wife. British-Italian tenor Freddie De Tommaso is Macduff, and American bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green is Banquo.

Critics have praised Kelsey's performance in the title role, describing it as humane and philosophically rich, with a voice that rings out confidently across its whole range. Davidsen, regarded as unrivalled in the repertoire of Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner, is playing Lady Macbeth on stage for the first time. She handles the demands of the score carefully and thoughtfully, and in the sleepwalking scene her voice carries sorrow without self-pity.

The director's approach

In this staging, the ruthless struggle of Macbeth and his wife for the throne carries an erotic tension, and violence becomes a kind of perverse lovemaking for them. Proske explains: "Murder is their project, their secret, their 'child'. It feels as if they have discussed it in bed. Violence arouses them."

Proske was born in Berlin and moved with her family to the United States for a year and a half at the age of 12. While reading Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" at school, she learned English by looking up the meaning of every word. She founded Heartbeat Opera, an experimental company in New York, and has worked in the city's avant-garde opera scene for more than ten years. While studying at the University of Cambridge she researched Shakespeare, and she has staged his plays "Cymbeline", "As You Like It" and "Macbeth", as well as Verdi's opera "Falstaff".

Proske sees Shakespeare as an observer of how societies disintegrate, aware of how quickly human bonds and social safeguards can collapse. The New York production shows such a world in ruins, constantly watched by witches, combining Elizabethan imagery with modern elements.

More information is available at metopera.org and forumcinemas.lv.