Macbeth as Opera: kinda neat

[ennierda]

So the Metropolitan Opera House put a giant screen on the outside of the building and then invited the general public to come sit and watch a telecast of Macbeth by Verdi. My friend and I were probably the youngest people in the crowd, which filled every damn seat (with walkers.)

Except for my fears that Lady Macbeth was going to fall out of her top, it was pretty damn enjoyable. In order to squeeze in all that singing, anything that wasn't absolutely vital to the plot got squeezed out (including the "unsex me" speech, which I disapproved of.) They updated the costumes to some sort of a WWI motif, and made the witches look like crazy cat ladies. I kept wondering if I could get high school kids to sit through a three-hour opera version of Macbeth when I teach it someday.

Answer - probably not, but I'm not sure that the Met sells video recordings of their productions anyway. They do special HD Live broadcasts for schools, tho. I approve of that - now that they don't make Animaniacs anymore, who will make parody versions of classical music, thus sneakily giving kids a classical musical education?

The Met does live telecasts throughout the season to movie theaters around the country. Sadly, the website is extremely unhelpful in determining WHERE these movie theaters are. It is also very unhelpful in providing a schedule for the educational broadcasts.

If I didn't have to do yearbook, I'd really like to start some sort of a cultural society at my school. I've got access to discount tickets to all sorts of things that I hardly ever use, not to mention how many free cultural programs there are in the city in warm weather. During cold weather the club could watch classic movies in an empty classroom. That's my idea of a great club - very little work, and I learn something, too!

Comments

[megasus4.livejournal.com]

I'm glad there was a good production of Macbeth. I have yet to see an actual *good* movie production of the play (using the original language...Scotland, PA and Throne of Blood are in their own category), so I simply don't show it to students. Occasionally I show a couple different versions of the same scene (usually the banquet scene) to illustrate the concept of director choice, but that's about it.

[ennierda.livejournal.com]

They don't use the original language, unfortunately, Verdi being an Italian composer, but it sticks very closely to the story and I recognized some of the lines (it was subtitled, of course, which is the other reason I doubt it would hold fly in a high school class. Maybe in an Honors group?)