Orlando Opera presented Macbeth with music by Giuseppe Verde at Steinmetz Hall in the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts ( 445 S Magnolia Ave, Orlando, FL), on October 25 and 27, 2024.
The opera opened with the conductor walking out and conducting the small orchestra in the pit. A witches cave which had a black scrim with 2 openings at the top of the two ramps. I suspected there must be more behind the scrim so I resisted sketching the openings, instead sketching the audience. The theater went pitch black, so I used my iPhone to illuminate the sketch. The witches predicted the future to two generals.
The scrim opened to show the kings castle. Lady Macbeth convinced her husband that he must murder the king to rise to the throne. He had a vision of a dagger and realized that this was his future. The king was murdered in a large projected silhouette, and Macbeth walked on stage with very bloody hands.
The lyrics were in Italian. Since I was sketching, I didn’t have time to read the subtitles above the stage. The emotion behind every aria however was clear. I have seen several productions of Macbeth as written by Shakespeare, so the story line was familiar. I let the music guise my hand as I struggled, putting lines on the page in the dark.