Macbeth - English National Opera Guide 41

Verdi came to Shakespeare through Italian translation and had never seen Macbeth on stage when he wrote his first version of the opera in 1847

Giorgio Melchiori draws a parallel between the conditions in which the playwright and the composer were working and compares their achievements

The supernatural was a vital element in both conceptions: the opera is "in the fantastic style", with bizarre music for the witches' dances and choruses

Theatre historian Michael Booth vividly introduces the staging of Shakespeare in the nineteenth century

Harold Powers discusses how the dramatic situations lent themselves to the forms and purposes of Italian opera.

REVIEWS

'Brilliantly produced and superb value' ~ Sunday Times

'All these will provide the new opera-goer with food for thought' ~ Daily Telegraph

'Wholehearted recommendation of this valuable new series' ~ TLS