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In English-speaking countries, we tend to look at Verdi's Macbeth, think of Shakespeare, and shake our heads a little sadly. Yes, it is a fine Italian opera, but it lacks the verbal richness, the psychological depth, the symbolic resonance, and the subtle characterizations of Shakespeare's tragedy. Dissatisfied with it himself, Verdi revised the 1847 original in 1865 but remained unhappy; it's not easy to stack yourself up against Shakespeare. He did better at the end of his career with Otello and Falstaff, aided by superior librettos. Still, taken on its own terms, as an Italian opera of the mid-19th century, Macbeth stands out. It is a powerful look at ambition, violence, remorse, the dark doings of witches, and the spooky torments of a guilty conscience. The late Giuseppe Sinopoli conducted vigorously, and his numerous fans will specially treasure this recording, which focuses its cameras on him frequently. Renata Bruson and Maria Zampieri are both at home in their roles and they exult in the opera's many opportunities for melodrama. There is not much subtlety in this production, but that is true to the spirit of the opera. --Joe McLellan
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