Macbeth in Concert | Opera Queensland & Queensland Symphony Orchestra

I’ll be honest with all of you and say I’m not precisely sure how to approach my review of this work. The name Macbeth in Concert brings to mind the image of a group of performers in classic Opera blacks with music stands in front of them and an orchestra behind them. No costumes, no set pieces, no blocking, or any of the other things we get from a full-scale production. The type of experience that focusses solely on the wonder of the music. So, I anticipated I would only need to speak to you about the technical proficiency of those involved and the larger sonic experience.

This is not the experience the audience of this Opera Queensland / Queensland Symphony Orchestra collaboration were presented with, however. It was not a full-scale production, to be clear, but there were costumes, and set pieces, and blocking. I’ve since learned from a friend of mine who is of the opera world that this mode of delivery, however strange, is commonplace to the form. So, it seems I’ve been presented with an interesting line to walk in reviewing this just as these companies were in producing it.

All images: Visual Poets Society

I will note, before I go any further, this was the most packed-out, and also the youngest, audience I’ve been a part of for a work of opera. I’m not sure whether to chalk this up to the brevity of the run (just two performances), the larger cultural appeal of Shakespeare and adaptations of his work, or to the collaborative nature of this production combining the audience bases of two state companies. Regardless of the cause it was quite heartening to see.

Due to this being marketed as a concert I’m not going to focus too much on the costumes, the set, or the coherence of the works dramaturgy. The first two set a good tone for the energy of the night and provide cohesion to aesthetic of the performers, the third was not necessarily the production’s priority and so I will not critique what is not designed to be. I will say the presence of a large root vegetable-type appendage hanging from the scrim upon which the surtitles and a number of auxiliary projections are displayed was vague, confusing, and potentially unnecessary, however.

As with all the opera I have engaged with Macbeth in Concert is an object lesson in what is possible when a group of people who have trained to do something exceptionally their entire lives gather in a room together and do that something exceptionally. The orchestra, led by conductor Umberto Clerici, is truly a wonder to behold. They strike the perfect balance of technical precision and emotional intensity. And you can tell their all having the time of their lives doing so, especially Clerici. Their work in combination with Opera Queensland’s company meant the sheer sonic power of a number of sequences left with me chills, in particular the full-company scene that takes place after King Duncan is murdered.

All images: Visual Poets Society

Anna-Louise Cole commands the fullness of my attention as Lady Macbeth. Her vocal ability, acting prowess, and the sheer magnitude of her stage presence meant she swallowed up all the air in QPAC’s concert hall and made it hers. The rest of the company all give wonderful vocal performances, and their acting possesses a level of electricity, but Cole is the true stand out here when looking at the performances holistically.

I do, as a result of this, however, don’t necessarily think José Carbó was the right pick for Macbeth. His vocal performance was top-notch, but he just could not match the intensity and texture of Cole’s acting. But this is not a full-scale production, it is a concert, and so I take my own thoughts on this matter with a grain of salt.

The odd mode of delivery, which lives in a limbo between concert and production, scatters viewer attention making an already blurry experience (an Italian adaptation and setting to music of an Englishman’s adaptation of a Scottish story) blurrier. I say this because I feel like if you don’t understand the plot of the play then the opera may be difficult to follow but given this was, technically, a concert this understanding might not really be necessary.

You may have noticed I’ve been playing tug-of-war with myself throughout this review. I think that reflects the tug-of-war being played by this work. It cannot decide whether it wants to be a concert or a production and so I cannot quite decide how to feel about it. Looking at it from a purely musical standpoint it was a phenomenal night at the opera, but if I put on my theatre critic goggles a number of issues become apparent.

All-in-all Macbeth in Concert takes an admirable stab at bringing this timeless story of ambition, pre-destination, and power to the stage, but it doesn’t quite seem to know if that which it sees before it is, in fact, a dagger.