I/10

Macbeth

Melodramma in four acts by
FRANCESCO MARIA PIAVE and ANDREA MAFFEI

First performance:
Original version, Florence, Teatro alla Pergola, 14 March 1847
Revised version, Paris, Théâtre-Lyrique, 21 April 1865

Critical Edition by
DAVID LAWTON

The University of Chicago Press 2005

Winner, Claude Palisca Award of the American Musicological Society, 2006

CHARACTERS:
DUNCANO [Duncan], King of Scotland, silent
MACBETH, General in King Duncan's army, baritone
BANCO [Banquo], also a general in Duncan's army, bass
LADY MACBETH, Macbeth's wife, soprano
Lady-in-waiting to Lady Macbeth, mezzo-soprano
MACDUFF, a Scottish nobleman, Lord of Fife, tenor
MALCOLM, Duncan's son, tenor
FLEANZIO [Fleance], Banquo's son, silent
A Servant of Macbeth, bass
A Doctor, bass
An Assassin, bass
A Herald, bass
3 Ghosts, 2 sopranos, bass (rev. version: HERALD, bass; ECATE [Hecate], goddess of the night, silent)
The Ghost of Banquo, silent
Mixed chorus of witches, king's messengers, Scottish nobles and exiles, assassins, English soldiers, bards, aerial spirits; (rev. version: ballet).

The setting is in Scotland, principally in Macbeth’s castle. At the beginning of Act Four it is on the border between Scotland and England.

Instrumentation: Piccolo, Flute, 2 Oboes/English horn, 2 Clarinets, Bass Clarinet (1865), 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon (1865), 4 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Cimbasso, Timpani, Bass Drum, Cymbals, Tam-Tam, Snare Drum, Harp, Strings.
Offstage: 4 Trumpets (1865); 8 Trumpets (1847); Snare Drums, Band
Below stage, in the scene of the apparitions in N. 11 (1865): 2 Oboes, 6 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon; in N. 11a (1847): 2 Oboes, 6 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons

Performance time: 1865 version: 2 hrs. 52 minutes; 1847 version: 2 hrs. 17 minutes

Verdi had a special fondness for Macbeth, and the first version is arguably the most important work of his formative years. Based on Shakespeare's play (Verdi called it "one of the greatest creations of man"), the opera was one on which he lavished particular attention. Needling his librettist, Francesco Maria Piave, to produce the text he required, Verdi was still dissatisfied and, together with another poet, Andrea Maffei, reworked it himself. In composing the music and coaching the first performance he took unusual care, and the premiere in Florence in 1847 was a great success, soon followed by many revivals.

In 1864, for Paris, Verdi was initially asked only to provide ballet music, but he did much more. Making substantial changes to the score, he added not only dances but an entirely new aria, duet, chorus, and death scene. Although the 1865 premiere was not the success Verdi hoped, he clearly intended that the revised Macbeth supercede the earlier version. History proved him right, and today the Paris version is the one generally performed. Yet the stylistic unity of the first version has also won it new support.

The critical edition of Macbeth is the first to allow performance and study of both versions and is the only one based entirely on autograph sources. It contains the later version of the opera as the principal score--the first edition to consult the composer's manuscripts of the revised pieces, which are preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. A massive appendix includes the movements from the earlier setting for Florence that Verdi replaced. David Lawton provides a wide-ranging introduction on the opera's complex history and genesis. The critical commentary offers detailed discussions of the many sources consulted and logs particular musical and textual problems and their solutions. Incorporated in the score for the first time is Verdi's preferred text-the version he set to music, rather than the regularized version of earlier printed editions--as well as his own stage directions. The score for both versions thus offers the most vivid and dramatic reading to date.

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