Premiere at the National Opera: 'Macbeth' Returns to the Stage in Sofia

The Sofia Opera and Ballet is adding one of Verdi’s most challenging works to its repertoire. Director Vera Petrova presents her own interpretation of the masterpiece Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi.

While the production closely follows the drama created by William Shakespeare and its musical realisation by Verdi, it also introduces a contemporary layer designed to engage audiences with modern dimensions of the conflict between morality and the ambition for power.

Macbeth is a formidable undertaking both for the creative team bringing it to the stage and for the audience, which must rise to the philosophical messages embedded by Shakespeare and Verdi. Petrova also poses direct questions to viewers, chief among them: what door would you unlock if the key to life’s ambition fell into your hands?

Vera Petrova on Macbeth: “We sought to preserve the fundamental life questions posed by Verdi and Shakespeare — about the meaning of life, whether it exists, and what is truly valuable in a person’s life.

“I believe we can present the audience with a fantasy thriller — not fantasy in the sense of science fiction, but in the sense of imagination that works with supernatural elements. If we have succeeded in exploring the questions, rather than the answers, posed by these two great geniuses — the musical and dramatic — then we may engage the audience and give them the opportunity to experience something conceptually different.”

Macbeth is a challenging work for singers, as the roles are extreme and place intense demands on the performers’ voices. For the premiere, the Sofia Opera and Ballet has invited Italian soprano Alessandra Di Giorgio to take on the vocal challenge of the formidable Lady Macbeth.

Di Giorgio said:
“Today it is very common for overly lyrical voices to sing Lady Macbeth. But I do not recommend this, and I do not do it myself — not only for reasons of vocal technique, and not only because it can damage the voice, but also because the character of the voice can never tell this story. We can all sing the notes, but the difference lies in the colour of the voice.”

Verdi’s genius adds an extra musical dimension to Shakespeare’s masterpiece, turning Macbeth into an opera that every music lover must experience.