2023-09-18 15:39:00
“Macbeth” was shown at the Berlin State Opera. One of the main roles in Verdi’s famous opera about the horrors of tyranny was performed by Anna Netrebko, against whose performance those gathered before the premiere on September 15 protested. It turned out that in the classic work of the 19th century one can find relevant references to modern times and important lessons of history. A DW correspondent attended the performance on Sunday, September 17.
Illusions and allusions
The curtain opens, and a heavy naturalistic picture appears before the audience, which cannot but stir up the strongest feelings – at least for those who know that at this very moment such a spectacle (only not on stage, but in real life) can be seen on land of Ukraine. The scene – a recent battlefield – is strewn with the bodies of soldiers, some of them disfigured. Like a terrible vision, a female figure in white crosses the stage, holding a sword in one hand and a child’s toy in the other. This is Anna Netrebko, and today she plays the role of Lady Macbeth for the second time in the famous production of Verdi’s opera.
Surprisingly, Anna Netrebko is depicted on posters by Ukrainian protesters in approximately this form – walking over the bodies of soldiers of a destroyed country. During the premiere of the production in Berlin on September 15, several Ukrainian public organizations held a crowded protest in front of the opera building. The singer, who, in their opinion, did not speak out sharply enough against the war in Ukraine, and who was previously close to Putin and helped Donbass, has no right, the protesters argued, to perform in the center of Europe and bears personal responsibility for the crimes of the Russian army in Ukraine. The protesters’ posters showed Netrebko eating Ukrainian children, Netrebko with her hands up to her elbows in blood – all these images paradoxically seemed to be copied from a Shakespeare play. It is this lyrical embodiment of the heroine that the famous opera singer plays on the stage of the Berlin State Opera. Lady Macbeth, a bloodthirsty power-hunger, in order to clear her husband’s path to the crown, does not stop at murder and war, depriving people of shelter, families, and lives.
Photo: Natalia Smolentceva/DW
Also, in the scene of the murder of Banquo, who stands in the way of Macbeth to the throne, the criminals are hiding behind metal fences – exactly the same ones that Berlin police fenced off the site of the protest against Netrebko’s speech.
As for other allusions of the production, the appearance of refugees in the fourth act makes an equally strong impression. As if setting the goal to exactly repeat one of the numerous photo reports from some Ukrainian train station, people appear on the stage with heavy suitcases, with children (perhaps without pets), frightened and confused. According to the plot, their fortress in Scotland is burned down by Macbeth, distraught from the proximity of absolute power. The sound of the refugee choir, full of homesickness and love for the homeland, is one of the best group parts of the production.
Verdi’s opera, based on Shakespeare’s play, raises eternal themes that are incredibly relevant today: what happens when maddened tyrants come to power, which is always in short supply, and how thousands of human destinies are ground in the millstones of the greed of rulers.
Verdi, following Shakespeare, believes in the victory of freedom and equality. For them, the action ends with the death of the tyrant and the proclamation of a new, just reign. Doom overtakes the one who killed and committed outrages: Lady Macbeth goes crazy trying to wash the invisible blood of her victims from her hands, and her husband dies at the hands of the one whom he betrayed and whose family he destroyed.
Harry Kupfer’s production at the Berlin Opera leaves a darker ending. A new struggle for power begins over the body of the deceased tyrant.
The purest “B”
Anna Netrebko appeared on the stage of the Berlin Opera for the first time since the start of the war and after the institution suspended cooperation with the singer in March 2022 “given the brutal war.”
Only the first of four announced days for the performance of the opera Macbeth with Anna Netrebko in the title role was accompanied by protests. On September 15, in front of the Berlin Opera on Unter den Linden, the crowd chanted “Shame on Netrebko!”, much to the confusion of the well-dressed opera visitors. In the hall, Netrebko was also booed several times that day, although the protest was drowned out by thunderous applause from the singer’s fans.
On the second day of the opera, Sunday September 17, there were no more protesters or police near the building. As with subsequent performances, all tickets were sold out in advance. In the hall, the reverent silence of the auditorium was interrupted only by the enthusiastic cries of fans, who reacted violently to each appearance of the famous singer. Netrebko’s final aria, in which Lady Macbeth, having gone mad and unable to bear the burden of murder, struggles with the torment of her conscience, “Una macchia è qui tuttora,” received a particularly long ovation from the public.
The bright star easily surpassed all her colleagues on stage in vocal skill. Only her partner and stage husband Luca Salsi, an outstanding Italian singer, was able to create a worthy part for the famous soprano. Their duets were a unique work of vocal art in terms of technique and lyricism, where perfect voices, harmoniously intertwined or sounding separately, formed a single whole.
There are protests in front of the Berlin Opera. Inside – spectators who came to the opera “Macbeth” Photo: Marek Kowalczyk/DW
During the intermission, venerable opera experts argued among themselves. “Netrebko was better in Aida.” “In La Traviata she played with the audience, but here she is too cold.” “But who on the whole globe can you call a better singer than Netrebko?” “Have you heard this pure “si”?” “Her technique is perfect, but I can’t see the soul!”
The troupe was called to bow five times. Anna Netrebko, beautiful in a white peignoir and a black cape, with perfect raven hair. Anna Netrebko currently refuses to be interviewed.
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