Macbeth (Bloch)
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Macbeth |
Théodore Chassériau : Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches in the heather |
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| Shape: | Opera in seven pictures (prologue and three acts) |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Ernest Bloch |
| Libretto : | Edmond Fleg |
| Literary source: | William Shakespeare : Macbeth |
| Premiere: | November 30, 1910 |
| Place of premiere: | Paris, Opéra-Comique |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ¼ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Scotland in the 11th century |
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Macbeth is an opera (original name: lyric drama) in a prologue and three acts in seven pictures by Ernest Bloch ( music ) with a French libretto by Edmond Fleg . It premiered on November 30, 1910 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris.
action
prolog
On a wind-blown heather near a battlefield, three witches appear in the twilight and sing about the fallen. The victorious generals Macbeth and Banquo approach them and let them predict the future. The witches prophesy: Macbeth will be Thane of Glamis and Cawdor and one day also be king. Banquo, on the other hand, is smaller than Macbeth, but still bigger - less happy, but happier. He would not become king himself, but he would have royal children. The first prediction is fulfilled quickly. Shortly after the witches leave, Macduff brings the news that King Duncan has named Macbeth Thane of Cawdor because the previous holder of the title turned out to be a traitor during the battle.
first act
First picture
In his castle, Macbeth tells his wife about the events. Lady Macbeth urges him to put aside all scruples in order to achieve his goals. A servant announces the arrival of the king, who wants to spend the night in Macbeth's castle. Macbeth goes to meet him with the servant. Left alone, Lady Macbeth decides to kill the king. Macbeth returns with King Duncan and other nobles. After a friendly greeting, the king declares that from now on he wants to rule together with his son Malcolm. This should later also take over the throne. The guests are shown to their quarters by Lady Macbeth. Macbeth remains shaken. When his wife returns, he tells her his remorse. However, she asks him to murder the king and plans to stun his servants with a potion.
Second picture
A quiet night in the castle courtyard. The sky is covered with clouds. The scene is steadily darkening. Banquo could not sleep as he was plagued by evil thoughts. He enters the courtyard and meets Macbeth and a servant there. He says that he dreamed of the witches the night before and leaves again. Macbeth sends the servant to his wife to tell her to ring the bell when the potion is ready. Macbeth is alone now. He looks at his dagger and ponders the impending deed. Then the agreed signal sounds. Macbeth sets out to carry out the murder. After a while, Lady Macbeth appears and thoughtfully awaits his return. After the deed is done, Macbeth comes into the courtyard. Lady Macbeth is concerned because she heard voices. Since Macbeth is no longer sane, she takes care of the problem herself. She briefly returns to the castle to smear blood on the faces of the sleeping guards and thus divert suspicion. After they both leave, the goalkeeper appears and sings a song. Macduff and Lennox come to wake the king. While Lennox is talking to Macbeth, Macduff discovers the body and raises the alarm. Fearing treason, he calls the king's sons to bring them to safety. After a general commotion, the scene ends with the contemplation of an old man who has never had a comparable night in his long and eventful life.
Second act
First picture
The new King Macbeth worries in his castle about the prediction of Banquo's descendants. After all, he didn't commit the murder of Duncan so that his children could benefit from it. So he hires two murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fléance. While the murderers withdraw a little and listen to the conversation, Lady Macbeth leads in the two named. Macbeth asks her about her plans. They move away again, followed by the murderers. Lennox and other nobles enter the hall to the sound of fanfare. Macbeth questions her about rumors that Macduff had gone into exile in England. But that shouldn't worry him, because now is the time to celebrate. While the guests are making their way to the banquet table, one of the murderers appears and tells Macbeth that Banquo is dead, but that his son Fléance was able to escape. Macbeth tries to shake off the bad thoughts in order to attend the celebration. Suddenly Banquo's ghost appears in his place at the table, but the others cannot see it. Lady Macbeth tries to calm the guests down. The ghost disappears again. After the guests leave, Lady Macbeth tries to get her husband to rest. But he is haunted again by the apparition and in his fear decides to kill Malcolm, Macduff and their families as well.
Second picture
Lady Macduff and her son lament the flight of Macduff, who wants to build an army in England. The murderers hired by Macbeth invade and kill the two. Macduff arrives but can only swear vengeance.
Third act
First picture
In a dark cave the witches sit by a kettle by the fire and conjure up Beelzebub and Lucifer. Macbeth enters and demands answers. After the appearance of various apparitions they warn him of Macduff and prophesy that Macbeth cannot be defeated unless the great forest of Birnam marches against him on the heights of Dunsinane. Macbeth is reassured because he thinks it is impossible for the trees to move of their own free will.
Second picture
A hall in Macbeth's Castle. The Birnam forest can be seen through a gallery. Lady Macbeth approaches, sleepwalking, with a candlestick in her hand. She fantasizes and believes in her madness that she can hear a bell and see blood everywhere that she cannot remove. After leaving the room, Macbeth enters with nobles and other entourage. A servant reports that a huge army of ten thousand soldiers is approaching. Macbeth doesn't believe him and calls for Lennox, who confirms the message. Macbeth has his armor brought and calls to arms. From the adjoining rooms, screams of terror are heard from the women. Lennox inquires and brings the news that Lady Macbeth killed herself. A servant enters again and reports, confused, that he has seen the forest set itself in motion. Everyone present panics while the opponents shout from the forest: “Mort à Macbeth! Gloire à Malcolm! ”The opposing soldiers appear, ready for the bloodbath. There is a duel between Macduff and Macbeth. Macduff kills his opponent and appoints Malcolm as the new king.
layout
Macbeth is an early work by Bloch. The music follows the tradition of Claude Debussy , Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler . The tonal language is enthusiastic and associated with the fin de siècle style . The instrumentation is rich and full of chromatic colors. In the meter steady reign clock and rhythm changes before. The voice guidance is influenced by Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande . The concept of the aria is forgotten. The sleepwalking scene of Lady Macbeth in the last picture is more of a declaimed than sung monologue, which optimally depicts the mental confusion of the figure.
Instrumentation
- three flutes, three oboes, four clarinets, four bassoons
- four horns in F, three trumpets in C, three trombones, tuba
- Timpani, percussion (two players: snare drum, triangle, tam-tam, glockenspiel, bass drum, cymbals)
- Celesta, two harps
- Strings
- on the stage: snare drum, three trumpets, two horns, three flutes, piano, harp, glockenspiel, tam-tam
history
From December 1903 Ernest Bloch was concerned with the idea of the work for which his friend, the writer Edmond Fleg, was to write the libretto. This closely follows the model of Shakespeare . Bloch wrote the first sketches of the prologue in December 1904 at the age of 24. He worked on the work until September 1909 - according to his own statement in the forest and in the mountains of Switzerland, where he first immersed himself completely in poetry for a year before starting the actual composition work. Before the composition was finished, he played parts of it in front of an audience in a salon in the house of Georges Bizet's son , where the singer Lucienne Bréval and the music critic Pierre Lalo heard it and enthusiastically recorded it. They got Bloch and Fleg talking to the director of the Opéra-Comique , Albert Carré, who immediately secured the performance rights within the next two years. However, after a series of intrigues, it did not premiere until November 30, 1910. Lucienne Bréval, to whom the piece is also dedicated, sang the role of Lady Macbeth - despite Carré's original reservations.
In total, there were initially thirteen performances in Paris, which were received mixed by the audience - either enthusiastically or with complete rejection, the latter also due to anti-Semitic moods. The vast majority of the critics were derogatory. Only the composer Ildebrando Pizzetti and Pierre Lalo found positive words. The latter certified that the work was of low quality, apart from a few superficial errors. Flegs' libretto also met with approval, as it fully lives up to Shakespeare's model and, with its concise, quick and terrible plot, appears to condense the tragedy.
An English translation of the libretto authorized by Bloch is by Alex Cohen. He based it on Shakespeare's text. Bloch also made some necessary adjustments to the rhythmic structures for this.
It was not played again until 1938, this time at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. However, the performances there were stopped due to an anti-Semitic edict of Mussolini . Later performances in Italian (translation by Mary Tibaldi Chiesa) were in Rome in 1953 and in Trieste in 1957. In 1958 it was given at the Théâtre la Monnaie in Brussels and in 1959 at La Scala in Milan . In the USA there was first an abbreviated version with piano accompaniment in Cleveland in 1957, then the first complete performance in 1960 at the University of California, Berkeley . In 1968 there were five performances in Geneva, as well as in 1970 at Baylor University . In 1973 it was performed by the Juilliard School in New York. A performance in Montpellier in 1997 was recorded and published on CD, as was a performance in 1998 in the Dortmund Theater . The English version was played in 2003 at the Theater an der Wien . In 2009 it was performed by the University College Opera in London, in 2013 at the Long Beach Opera and in 2014 at the Harris Theater Chicago and the John C Borden Auditorium in New York.
Bloch published the two interludes between the images in the first and third act separately in 1938 for performances in the concert hall.
Discography
- 1968 (live from the Grand Théâtre de Genève ): Pierre Colombo (conductor), Orchester de la Suisse Romande. Nicola Rossi-Lemeni (Macbeth), Inge Borkh (Lady Macbeth), Frantz Petri (Macduff), Jean Angot (Banquo), Michel Hamel (Duncan), Michel Lecocq (Malcolm). Excerpts from Gala GL 100.543.
- February 1972 (live): Bryan Fairfax (conductor), Polyphonia Orchestra, Ambrosian Singers . Rae Woodland, Edmund Bohan, Raimund Herincx, Thomas Hemsley. Inta'glio INC 007 552 (2 CD).
- July 9, 1975 (live from the Royal Festival Hall London): José Serebrier (conductor), New Philharmonia Orchestra , Ambrosian Singers. Ryan Edwards (Macbeth), Helga Dernesch (Lady Macbeth), Robert Lloyd (Macduff), Jon Andrew (Banquo), Mario Rodrigo (Duncan), John Wakefield (Malcolm and Lennox), Elizabeth Tippett (first witch), Christa Leahman (second Witch), Patricia Payne (third witch). Open Reel Tape - Mr. tape 4120.
- July 26, 1997 (live, in concert from Montpellier): Friedemann Layer (conductor), Orchester Philharmonique de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon, Latvian Radio Chorus Vilnius. Jean-Philippe Lafont (Macbeth), Markella Hatziano (Lady Macbeth), Jean-Philippe Marlière (Macduff), Jacques Trussel (Banquo), Christer Bladin (Duncan), Ferijs Millers (Malcolm), Philippe Georges (Lennox), Sophie Fournier ( first witch), Hanna Schaer (second witch), Ariane Stamboulides (third witch). Actes Sud CD, AT 34100.
- December 5, 1998 (live from the Dortmund Theater , shortened): Alexander Rumpf (conductor), Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra, Dortmund Theater Choir . Hannu Niemelä (Macbeth), Sonja Borowski-Tudor (Lady Macbeth), Karl-Heinz Lehner (Macduff), Jill-Maria Marsden (Lady Macduff), Thomas de Vries (Banquo), Norbert Schmittberg (Duncan), Frederic Hellgren (Malcolm) , Sven Ehrke (Lennox), Marisol Montalvo (first witch), Vera Fischer (second witch), Susan Benkin (third witch). Capriccio 10899/90 (2 CD).
- July 18, 2003 (live from Theater an der Wien , English version): Shao-Chia Lü (conductor), ORF Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Klangbogen Vienna Festival Choir. Donnie Ray Albert (Macbeth), Susan Bullock (Lady Macbeth), Mel Ulrich (Macduff), Sabina Cvilak (Lady Macduff), Andreas Schreibner (Banquo), Wolfgang Müller-Lorenz (Duncan), Stephen Chaundy (Malcolm), Anthony Marber ( Lennox), Erla Kollaku (first witch), Christa Ratzenböck (second witch), Nadia Krasteva (third witch).
literature
- Melanie Krämer: The “Macbeth” operas by Giuseppe Verdi and Ernest Bloch. A textual and musical comparison. Tectum Verlag, Marburg 2000. ISBN 3-8288-8131-9
Web links
- Ernest Bloch (1880-1959): Macbeth. Work information with table of contents on Klassika.info
- Ernest Bloch en de 'other Macbeth'. Detailed article with video and audio examples on operamagazine.nl (Dutch)
- Steve Schwartz: Detailed review of the CD by Friedemann Layer on classical.net (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Ernest Bloch. In: Harenberg opera guide. 4th edition. Meyers Lexikonverlag, 2003, ISBN 3-411-76107-5 , p. 98.
- ↑ a b c Lucie Kayas: Program text for the CD Ernest Bloch: Macbeth with Friedemann Layer. Actes Sud CD, AT 34100
- ↑ Work information on homepage3.nifty.com ( memento from October 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on October 24, 2015.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h (1909) Macbeth - Ernest Bloch Legacy , accessed October 24, 2015.
- ↑ a b c David Z. Kushner: Macbeth (iii). In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
- ↑ a b c d Ernest Bloch. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all opera complete recordings. Zeno.org , volume 20.
- ↑ Performance dates of the Harris Theater Chicago at Operabase ( memento of October 24, 2015 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on October 24, 2015.
- ↑ Performance dates of the John C Borden Auditorium New York at Operabase ( memento of October 24, 2015 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on October 24, 2015.
- ↑ Data on the 1968 performance on Operadis , accessed October 24, 2015.
- ^ Audio recording of the 1968 Geneva performance on YouTube .
- ^ Work data on Macbeth von Bloch based on the MGG with discography in Operone
- ↑ Data on the 1975 performance on Operadis , accessed October 24, 2015.