'Macbeth' premiere brings major staging of opera classic to Tbilisi theatre
The premiere will bring a brand-new staging of the classic to the Tbilisi stage during Christmas season. Photo via Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theatre.
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A major premiere will bring talents of William Shakespeare and Giuseppe Verdi to the stage of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theatre starting this weekend when the venue opens its hall for opera classic Macbeth.
In a five-show Christmas season bill, a brand-new production of the classic work from director Daniele Abbado will come to the theatre that has been on a push to host contemporary redactions of famed works in a series of premieres over the recent seasons.
The Macbeth premiere, launching on Saturday, is a production by Abbado for the high-profile Festival Verdi in Parma, unveiled at last year's edition. It comes via efforts by Boris Stetka, who worked as associate stage director on the project, scenographer Graziano Gregori and costume designer Carla Teti.
Georgian conductor Zaza Azmaiparashvili worked as music director for the production and will lead the orchestra at the Tbilisi opera house in the bill.
????პარმის ვერდის ფესტივალის პროდუქცია თბილისის ოპერისა და ბალეტის თეატრში!!!
— Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theatre (@Tbilisi_Opera) December 10, 2019
???? 14,15,18,21,22 დეკემბერი - ვერდის "მაკბეტის" პრემიერა!!!
????
????Production of the Festival Verdi, Parma, at the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre!
???? 14,15,18,21,22 December - Verdi's "Macbeth" Premiere! pic.twitter.com/gl1B28rVBf
The theatre has not yet revealed its cast for the premiere run.
The bill will mark the third premiere of a Macbeth redaction in the capital city, with the original show coming to Tbilisi's first purposefully designed opera house in the South Caucasus in 1868, only three years after it was performed for a Paris audience.
In turn the French show followed the maiden performance of the work at Florence's Teatro della Pergola in 1847, which was a fruitful accomplishment of Verdi's aim to produce an opera based on Shakespeare's literary work. Macbeth remained a favourite production for Verdi, who was also the author of the redaction for the Paris premiere.
The most recent staging of Macbeth in the Georgian capital came in 2002, when Azmaiparashvili and staging director and scenographer Guram Meliva brought a version of the work to opera-goers in the city.
The new premiere bill will run at the theatre, located at 25, Rustaveli Avenue, between December 14-22.
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Tbilisi’s principal opera venue will premiere a brand-new staging of Giuseppe Verdi’s Don Carlo, marking the show’s return to Georgian audiences for the first time in 15 years this month.
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