Giuseppe Verde – Analog Artist Digital World

Macbeth with music by Giuseppe Verdi was presented by the Orlando Opera at Steinmetz Hall in the Dr. Phillips Center for the Perf0rming Arts. During the intermission I finished up adding watercolor washes to my first sketch.

The second Act opened up once again in the witches cave. I am loosing sight in my left eye which causes me to see two overlapping images. I decided to use my opera glasses to do a second sketch. The advantage of the opera glasses is that the double vision is no longer a problem. One actor or actress fills my vision as I sketch. The problem is to keep my head still as I sketch and resist looking don at the sketch. Both of my fountain pens failed as I sketched and I found that colored pencils became blunt too fast. Despite the technical issues I enjoyed sketching each with in turn, knowing full well it would be a quirky result. I think I will do drawings more often using the opera glasses. It puts me right on top of the action.

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.