Spanish tenor Placido Domingo (L) takes part in the rehearsal of opera Macbeth in Beijing, capital of China, on Aug. 29, 2016. (Source: chncpa.org)
BEIJING Sept. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- To memorize the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) of China will stage the opera version of Macbeth first created by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi.
The opera will be on from Sept. 7 to Sept. 11 in the NCPA.
Spanish tenor Placido Domingo will play the leading role, well-known maestro Daniel Oren will serve as the conductor while the worldly renowned opera director Hugo de Ana will be in charge of the direction, set and costume design.
The presenters of the opera are the NCPA Chorus and NCPA Orchestra, while Chinese dramatic actors and actresses will also take turns to play the leading and supporting roles in the opera.
Adapted from a Scottish historical legend, Shakespeare’s five-act tragedy tells the story about brave Scottish general Macbeth murdering the king and usurping the throne.
In 1847, based on an Italian drama by F.M.Piave, Verdi put Macbeth on opera stage, which is his first opera work adapted from Shakespeare’s dramas, with strong dramatic music to show characters’ selfishness, desire, greed and fear. He also for the first time experimented with a series of acts in the original work such as “knocking sound” and “sleepwalking”.
General Macbeth, the cousin of the King of Scotland Duncan, murders Duncan and usurps the throne, with the support and connivance of his wife Ms. Macbeth.
Although Macbeth achieves his aim, the fear and suspicion have created illusions in his brain, while his wife lives in the fear and sleepwalks to end in death.
Being utterly isolated, Macbeth fails in the war and dies, and Duncan’s son Malcolm becomes the new king at the end.
As the leading Chinese art groups both on stage of operas and concerts, the NCPA Chorus and Orchestra represent the highest artistry in China. By presenting over 100 performances each year, they have depicted numerous opera characters in an enthusiastic way and contributed actively to the further development of arts production of the NCPA.