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about opera
Opera is an Italian art, according to undeniable documents, although roots in musical performances of eastern nations.
Inspired
by experiences of his and others, Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
created orfeo, very similar to nowadays opera. Although too much alike
Madrigale (early musical performances), it was a new product in which
actors were replaced by singers as well as an accompanying orchestra in
between to the stage and the audience.
Monteverdi, being appointed
as the chief of San Marcoi ecclesiastical music committee, Venice, in
1613, created several other opera and made a number of breakthrough
advances in music, thus is known as a founder of modern harmony.
There are 6 groups of voice parts according to Monteverdi:
- Soprano: female high-pitched voice
- Mezzo soprano: female medium voice
- Contralto: female low-pitched voice
- Baryton: low-pitched voice
- Tenor: young male voice
- Basso: male lowest-pitched voice
Despite earlier versions
of combination of music and theater in East (Beijing Opera in China and
Ta’zieh in Iran), European artists relying on creative talents
(Shakespeare and Moliere, naming a few) made opera a universal art.
Contributions of artists from a number of European countries naming
Germany, France and Great Britain are considerable.
Neglecting
western opera and underestimating its values may mean to bury our own
cultural and musical backgrounds, while presenting excellent cases
gradually forms bases for evolution of Iranian opera which is built on
Tazi’eh and inspired by Persian poems and music.
Otherwise, someday western opera may acquire Iranian stories for their plays.
This
was the original idea behind taking Rostam & Sohrab on stage. We
gladly observed its outstanding success in Tehran, Mashad, Golestan,
Dubai, Prague, etc. and now are bringing tragedy of Macbeth to pursue
our hopes in a jo int effort of Rudaki Art and Cultural Foundation and
Dramatic Art Center. This opera is being produced in string puppet show
for the first time.
Tragedy of Macbeth:
Macbeth
(who is the Thane of Glamis) and Banquo, have just defeated an invasion
by the allied forces of Norway and Ireland, led by the rebel
Macdonwald. Macbeth, the King's kinsman, is particularly praised for
his bravery, and fighting prowess.
While they wander into a
heath, the three Witches greet them with prophecies. The first hails
Macbeth as "Thane of Glamis", the second as "Thane of Cawdor", while
the third proclaims that he shall "be King hereafter". The Witches also
inform Banquo he shall father a line of kings. While the two men wonder
at these pronouncements, the Witches vanish, and another Thane, Ross, a
messenger from the King, soon arrives and informs Macbeth of his
newly-bestowed title—Thane of Cawdor. The first prophecy is thus
fulfilled. Immediately, Macbeth begins to harbour ambitions of becoming
king.
Macbeth writes to his wife about the Witches' prophecies.
When Duncan decides to stay at the Macbeth's castle at Inverness, Lady
Macbeth hatches a plan to murder him and secure the throne for her
husband. Macbeth raises concerns about the regicide, but Lady Macbeth
eventually persuades him to comply with their plan.
In the night
of the visit, Macbeth kills Duncan. Lady Macbeth arranges to frame
Duncan's sleeping servants for the murder by planting bloody daggers on
them. Early the next morning, Lennox, a Scottish nobleman, and Macduff,
the loyal Thane of Fife, arrive. The porter opens the gate and Macbeth
leads them to the king's chamber, where Macduff discovers Duncan's
corpse. In a sham fit of fury, Macbeth murders the servants before they
can protest their innocence. Macduff is immediately suspicious of
Macbeth, but does not disclose his suspicions publicly. Fearing for
their lives, Duncan's sons flee, Malcolm to England and his brother
Donalbain to Ireland.
Despite his success, Macbeth remains
uneasy regarding the prophecy that Banquo would be the progenitor of
kings. Hence Macbeth invites Banquo to a royal banquet and discovers
that Banquo and his young son, Fleance, will be riding that night. He
hires two men to kill Banquo and Fleance. While the assassins succeed
in murdering Banquo, Fleance is able to escape.
At the
banquet, Banquo's ghost enters and sits in Macbeth's place. Disturbed,
Macbeth goes to the Witches once more. They conjure up three spirits
with three further warnings and prophecies, which tell him to "beware
Macduff", but also that "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth" and he
will "never be vanquish'd until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane
Hill shall come against him". Since Macduff is in exile, Macbeth
massacres everyone in Macduff's castle, including Macduff's wife and
their young children.
Lady Macbeth eventually becomes racked
with guilt from the crimes she and her husband have committed. She
sleepwalks and tries to wash imaginary bloodstains off her hands.
In
England, Malcolm and Macduff plan an invasion of Scotland. Macbeth, now
a tyrant, sees many of his thanes defecting. While encamped in Birnam
Wood, the soldiers are ordered to cut down and carry tree limbs to
camouflage their numbers, thus fulfilling the Witches' second prophecy.
Meanwhile, Macbeth delivers a famous nihilistic soliloquy ("Tomorrow,
and tomorrow, and tomorrow") upon learning of Lady Macbeth's death.
A
battle ensues, culminating in Macduff's confrontation with Macbeth.
Macbeth boasts that he has no reason to fear Macduff, as he cannot be
killed by any man born of woman. Macduff declares that he was "from his
mother's womb / Untimely ripped" (i.e., born by Caesarean section
before his mother's actual delivery)—and was therefore not "of woman
born". Too late, Macbeth realizes the Witches have misled him. A fight
ensues, which ends with Macduff beheading Macbeth offstage, thereby
fulfilling the last of the prophecies.
Finally, Malcolm is crowned as the rightful King of Scotland, suggesting that peace has been restored to the kingdom.
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Giuseppe
Verdi was born in north of Italy in the same year as Richard Wagner,
great German composer. His father bought him a petit Clawson, but the
7-year-old boy, outraged for inability to play, jabbed it with hammer.
On
the Clawson, saved to date, there is a short note: the wrenches and
pedal fixed by S. Cavaletti for young lad, Giuseppe Verdi, hoping he
would learn how to play Clawson / someday… 1821
Perhaps Cavaletti, the repairman, had seen a light in this outraged boy, otherwise he would not make the note.
Giuseppe
soon demonstrated his talent in playing the piano but excellence
required time and up to that point he had been rejected for several
times assumed as “with no musical talent”.
Finally, after performing
Nabucco in La Scala, Milan, he became known as the most reputable
composer. His works are still among the masterpieces of music.
Giuseppe
Verdi has shown his interest in Shakespeare by composing three of the
greatest opera: Othello, Macbeth and Falstaph as well as his enthusiasm
to create various religious works such as Stabat and of course Requiem,
composed honoring the Italian patriot poet Manzoni.
Based on Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth
Libretto: Franchesco Maria Piave
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Director: Behrooz Gharibpour
Light and decoration designer: Behrooz Gharibpour
Marionette designer: Ali Pakdast
Costume designer: maryam Moeini
Head of marionette making group: Maryam Eghbali
Head of decoration: Hengameh Sazesh
Assistant director: Ghazal Eskandarnejad
Decoration design assistants: Davood Mantegh, Hengameh Sazesh
Puppeteer assistants: Maryam Eghbali, Ali Pakdast, Ghazal Eskandarnejad
Stage managers: Hengameh Sazesh, Homayoon Salahi, Ali Abolkheirian
Singers:
| Macbeth |
Giuseppe Tadei |
| Banquo |
Giovanni Foiani |
| Lady Macbeth |
Brigit nelson, Dora Caral |
| Macduff |
Bruno Prevedi |
| Malcolm |
Piero D’palmo |
| Medico |
Giusseppe Morsi |
| Maid |
Virginio Carbonari |
| Assassin |
Silvio Maionicaa |
A performance of Santa Cicilia Academy Orchestra, Rome, Italy
A production of DECCA
Puppeteers:
Ali Pakdast, Maryam Eghbali, Ghazal Eskandarnejad, Ali Abolkheirian
,Mohsen Imankhani, Afsaneh Zamani, Salma Mohseni, Mona Kiyanifar,
Banafsheh Samadi, Homayoun Salahi, camellia Noohi, Nassim Amirkhosrow,
Farzaneh Agheli, Marzieh Sarmashghi, Negar Mirfakhraee, Ghazaleh
Moradian, Somayeh Naderi, Nazbanoo Akhavannik, Artemiz Niazi, Forouz
Hashemi
Marionette makers: Maryam Eghbali, Ali Pakdast, Mohsen Imankhani, Ali Abolkheirian, Salma Mohseni, Homayoun Salahi, camellia Noohi, Mona Kiyanifar
Sewing Team: Maryam Moeini, Mona Kiyanifar, camellia Noohi, Frouz Hashemi
Decoration Team:
Behrooz Gharibpour, Hengameh Sazesh, Davood Mantegh, Homayoun Salahi,
Ghazal Eskandarnejad, Nassim Amirkhosrow, Farzaneh Agheli, Nazbanoo
Akhavan, Artemiz Niazi
Light operator: Amir Mohammadi
Documentation: Arezoo Hosseini
Projection Operator: Arash Mozafari
Orator Edit: Alireza Salemi
Sound operators: Hossein Moghadam,seyed Roohollah Khoshdast
Sound Editor: Amir Behzad
Blacksmith Team: Reza Ansari, Majid Jafi, Enayat Hassanalizadeh, Ali Rahimi
Carpentry Team: Jafar Shakouri, Kianoush Nayebagha, Reza Mohammadi, Ahmad Mohamadi, Jalal Mahzoon, Ali Babri, Hojatollah Hajipour
Sewing department: Abbas Ghaffari, Mehdi Mohammadi, Reza Zohrevand, Mohammad Milani Moghadam, Zohreh Salimi
Public Relations: Asal Emami, Mostafa Purmehdi
Brochure and poster design: Ayrin Gharibpour
Photographer: Mohammad Farnoud, Kian Amani
Ferdowsi Hall staff: Hooman Besharati, Elham Golshan, Ali Gholami
Special thanks to: Solmaz Fatehi Khameneh
Thanks to:
Dr. Imani Khoshkhoo, Mehdi Masoodshahi and staff of Rudaki Art and
Cultural Foundation, Mansour Parsayee and staff of Dramatic Arts
Center, Mohamad Khoshroo, Koorosh Shah Hosseini and Informatic Center,
Ebrahim Haghighi, Mahriz Publications, Majid Sazesh, Davar Namini,
Zahra Alirezayee, Faezeh Fattahi, Hassan Farahani
A production of:
Aran Puppet Theater Group
In association with:
Rudaki Art and Cultural Foundation
Dramatic Arts Center
Performance: July 2007
Ferdowsi Hall, Tehran, Iran
Tragic scenes in Macbeth
- Macbeth and Banquo meet the three Witches. The three witches greet
them with prophecies hailing Macbeth as "Thane of Cawdor" and that he
shall "be King hereafter". The Witches also inform Banquo he shall
father a line of kings.
- Lady Macbeth is informed the king of Scotland, Dunken, has appointed Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor.
- She is informed of Dunken’s coming to appreciate Macbeth’s braveries and celebrate Scottish victory over Norwegians.
- Lady Macbeth tempts her husband to kill Dunken to advance witches’ prophecy.
- Macbeth overcomes his fear and kills Dunken in his bed.
- Mc Duff talks to Banquo of his fear of Scotland future
- Dunken’s service and Macbeth’s coronation are held simultaneously.
- Assassins try to kill Banquo’s son. He is fled by his father. Banquo gets killed
- Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are worried about future and face ghosts
(Dunken and Banquo) in the palace. Having killed Mc Duff’s family for
revenge, Macbeth meets the witches_ fearing about future.
- The witches tell him that "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth"
and he will "never be vanquish'd until Great Birnam wood to high
Dunsinane Hill shall come against him". But they promise he shall be
defeated which frightens him.
- There is no difference between the palace and heath. Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth are stuck in the fearful world of ghost. Lady Macbeth
eventually becomes racked with guilt from the crimes she and her
husband have committed.
- Scottish people get together to mourn on the dead. Macduff, takes
part with his daughter’s dead body and whines of his sufferings and the
Scottish’s.
- Malcolm enters with an army and proclaims to be willing to fight
against Macbeth, now a tyrant, and promises freedom of the country.
- Lady Macbeth, in her very last minutes, sleepwalks and tries to
wash imaginary bloodstains off her hands. The doctor and the maid
reveal her insanity and the murders of Dunken, Banquo and others.
- Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are alone in the palace. He realizes his wife will soon die. She dies in insanity.
- Macbeth is lonely and alone and surrenders to death.
- Macbeth watches Birnam woods approaching as the army, camouflaged in Birnam tree limbs, approach the castle.
- Macduff's confronts with Macbeth. Macbeth boasts that he has no
reason to fear Macduff, as he cannot be killed by any man born of
woman. Macduff declares that he was "from his mother's womb / Untimely
ripped" (i.e., born by Caesarean section before his mother's actual
delivery)—and was therefore not "of woman born".
- A fight ensues, which ends with Macduff beheading Macbeth offstage.
- Malcolm enters with the army and Macduff bows before King Malcolm
with Macbeth’s head. The army celebrates the victory of Scotland.
Click to view the MACBETH Gallery
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