Name: Lady Macbeth’s Sleepwalking Scene sung by Andrea Gruber by Seattle Opera in Macbeth
Duration: 4 min 30 s
Description: Andrea Gruber sings Lady Macbeth’s Sleepwalking Scene at Seattle Opera in 2006. With Emily Clubb as the Lady-in-Waiting and Archie Drake as the Doctor. The orchestra of Seattle Opera was conducted by Nicola Luisotti. Photo by Rozarii Lynch.

MACBETH was Verdi's first attempt at transforming Shakespeare into opera, and also the first step on his journey from old-fashioned bel canto toward more modern opera. It most recently saw the Seattle Opera stage in a startling production from 2006, designed by Robert Israel (and best-remembered for the blood dripping down the walls in the sleepwalking scene) and conducted by the great Nicola Luisotti.

Macbeth

Vivaldi:  Four Seasons; Summer - III. Presto

The Ride of the Valkyries is the second of the four opera, "Ring Cycle" by Richard Wagner.  It was written in 1851 and is one of Wagner's best known musical compositions.

Photo:  "In Old Norse mythology, the maiden attendants of Odin, who, at his command, rode over battlefields and bore the souls of the bravest of the slain to Valhalla, Odin's great hall." -Foster, 1921

The Ride Of The Valkyries by Richard Wagner

Carmen, Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre

Johann Strauss II - The Blue Danube Waltz

Seattle Opera presents Verdi’s “Nabucco” for the first time this summer, starring Mary Elizabeth Williams as Abigaille, the fearsome princess of Assyria. Abigaille has several equally terrifying sisters in Verdi’s early operas, including Lady Macbeth in “Macbeth,” sung at Seattle Opera in 2006 by Andrea Gruber. In the cabaletta of her entrance aria, this ‘fiend-like queen’ prays to the powers of hell to steel her spirit for what she must do: 
“Arise, spirits from the other world…
Make thick my blood, stop up in me remorse.
Let darkest night cover all the world in shadow 
So that the knife cannot see whose heart it stabs.”
Nicola Luisotti conducted the orchestra of Seattle Opera. Photo by Rozarii Lynch. 

Scary Women from Early Verdi: LADY MACBETH

Andrea Gruber sings Lady Macbeth’s Sleepwalking Scene at Seattle Opera in 2006. With Emily Clubb as the Lady-in-Waiting and Archie Drake as the Doctor. The orchestra of Seattle Opera was conducted by Nicola Luisotti. Photo by Rozarii Lynch. 



Lady Macbeth’s Sleepwalking Scene sung by Andrea Gruber

SAINT-SAËNS: Dance Macabre (Waltz)

Verdi’s thrilling early opera on MACBETH (1848, revised 1865) broke with tradition by not being full of tuneful, easily detached solo arias. The exception is the heart-breaking tenor aria for Macduff, “Ah, la paterna mano,” sung in the final act. Inspired both by his own grief over the loss of his children and one of Shakespeare’s most powerful scenes, Verdi turned grief into unforgettable music. 
Here are some of the lines from Shakespeare’s play which inspired the aria: 

“All my pretty ones? 
Did you say all?--O hell-kite!--All? 
What, all my pretty chickens and their dam 
At one fell swoop? ... Gentle heavens, 
Cut short all intermission; front to front 
Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself; 
Within my sword's length set him; if he 'scape, 
Heaven forgive him too!”

In 2006 Joseph Calleja sang Macduff and Nicola Luisotti conducted the orchestra of Seattle Opera. Photo by Rozarii Lynch. 

MACBETH: Macduff Laments His Slain Children

Antonin Dvorak~ Symphony No. 9 in E minor op. 95 "From the New World" 

Antonin Dvorak ~ Symphony No. 9, 4th movement - Allegro Con Fuoco

Something wicked this way comes! When he set about transforming Shakespeare’s MACBETH into an Italian opera, Giuseppe Verdi multiplied Shakespeare’s three witches into a whole bevy of them, and then wrote them some spectacularly creepy music. The scene in the witches’ cavern becomes a huge production number as the witches brew their hell-broth and await the evil king. Seattle Opera’s 2006 production of MACBETH was conducted by Nicola Luisotti. 

PHOTO: Rozarii Lynch

MACBETH: “Double, double, toil and trouble”

The 'Waltz of the Flowers' from Tchaikovsky's esteemed ballet 'The Nutcracker', appears towards the end of the second act. Attention can be drawn to the melodious cadenza of the harp, then to the horns that eventually make way into the riveting melody of the strings.

Waltz of the Flowers from 'The Nutcracker' - Tchaikovsky

Georges Bizet [ L'Arlésienne: Farandole ]

Bizet  [ L'Arlésienne: Farandole ]

A live recording from the Memphis Repertory Orchestra's debut CD release concert on March 2, 2013. The concert was given in the brand new Nancy Crosby Theater in the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Memphis, TN. 
Will Haapaniemi - Violin
William R. Langley - Music Director

http://memphisreporchestra.bandcamp.com
http://memphisreporchestra.com

Night on Bald Mountain

Help us celebrate great moments in Seattle Opera history as we approach our golden anniversary. This week, we remember 2006, when Nicola Luisotti, now Music Director of San Francisco Opera and the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, made a dazzling Seattle Opera debut--one which won him the Artist of the Year award--conducting a new production of Verdi's "Macbeth," directed by Bernard Uzan and designed by Robert Israel. 

At the end of Act One, Banquo (Burak Bilgili) reveals that King Duncan has been assassinated. The entire company, including Macbeth (Gordon Hawkins), Lady Macbeth (Andrea Gruber), and the Seattle Opera Chorus, explode with horror: "Let the jaws of hell open wide and swallow all of creation; may fire from heaven consume the detested murderer." Nicola Luisotti conducts the orchestra of Seattle Opera. Photo by Rozarii Lynch.

Seattle Opera "Countdown to the 50th!" 2006 Luisotti Conducts MACBETH

I produced this track using midi and EW Gold Pianos in order to perfection the performance as I imagine it.

Franz Liszt - La Campanella

Founded in 1963, Seattle Opera is a leading American opera company. The company presents the classics of the European repertoire as well as new works of American opera. Frequent productions of Wagner's RING, beginning in 1975, established the company's worldwide reputation. Seattle Opera usually presents five opera productions each year.

Lady Macbeth’s Sleepwalking Scene sung by Andrea Gruber

Seattle Opera

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