Verdi Macbeth Chailly (1987)
Claude D'Anna's film of Verdi's Macbeth is a gloomy affair, stressing the descent into madness of the principal villains. It's acted by the singers of the Decca recording of the opera (with two substitutions of actors standing in for singers) and the lip-synching is generally unobtrusive. The musical performance is superb, conducted by Riccardo Chailly with admirable fire, and sung by some of the leading lights of the opera stages of the 1980s. Shirley Verrett virtually owned the role of Lady Macbeth at the time, and she delivers a terrific performance, the voice equal to the role's wide register leaps and it's suffused with emotion, whether urging her husband on to murder or maddened by guilt in the Sleepwalking Scene. Leo Nucci's resonant Macbeth may lack the ultimate in vocal color and steadiness (his last notes of the great aria Pietà, rispetto, amore are wobbly) but he compensates with intensity in both singing and acting.
Director: Claude d'Anna
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Leo Nucci as Macbeth |
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Shirley Verrett as Lady Macbeth |
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Samuel Ramey as Banquo |
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Anna Caterina Antonacci as Dama de Lady Macbeth |
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Veriano Luchetti as Macduff |
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Antonio Barasorda as Malcolm |
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Sergio Fontana as Mendico |
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Nicolas Sansier as Fleanzio |
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Riccardo Chailly as Conductor |
| Production | Henry Lange | Producer |
| Writing | Francesco Maria Piave | Writer |
| Sound | Giuseppe Verdi | Original Music Composer |
| Directing | Claude d'Anna | Director |
