Milan, December 2, 2021 – It’s a matter of days: Milan is getting ready for the Prima della Scala, Tuesday December 7 day of Sant’Ambrogio. On stage a ‘Macbeth’ of “universal” reading, linked to the contemporaneity of Giuseppe Verdi like the current one, but without references to particular episodes in history.

On stage the Macbeth of Giuseppe Verdi, lyric drama in four acts composed in 1847 on a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and performed for the first time at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence that same year. With this new production of the Teatro alla Scala the musical director Riccardo chailly closes the cycle dedicated to the youth trilogy of Giuseppe Verdi after ‘Giovanna d’Arcoì (staged at the Premiere 2015) and’ Attila ‘(Creation 2018). For the first time the opera according to the critical edition edited by David Lawton for Ricordi is performed at La Scala: the edition chosen is that of 1865, but in the fourth act the death of Macbeth is inserted (“Too bad for me that I confided in“) From version 1847.

The orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala is led by Riccardo Chailly, at its eighth inauguration, the theatrical direction is by Davide livermore, at its fourth inaugural show (after ‘Attila ‘ in 2018, the ‘Tosca’ in 2019 and editing during the Covid pandemic ‘To see the stars again ‘), the scenography isthe Giò Forma, the lights of Antonio castro, videos edited by D-Wok, the choreographies are Daniel Ezralow, the disguises of Gianluca Falaschi. The television management and of Arnalda canali.

The cast of the Premiere is as follows: Macbeth Luca Salsi; Banco Ildar Abdrazakov and Lady Macbeth Anna Netrebko. Then the Lady Macbeth’s Lady Chiara Isotton; Macduff Francesco Meli; Malcolm Iván Ayón Rivas; Doctor Andrea Pellegrini; National Leonardo Galeazzi; 1st appearance Costantino Finucci. For Luca Salsi, parmesan baritone, is the fourth inauguration of La Scala with Riccardo Chailly after ‘Andrea Chénier’, ‘Tosca’ and ‘To see the stars again ‘; fifth, instead, for the soprano Anna netrebko which premiered in 2011 as Donna Anna in ‘Don Giovanni’ directed by Daniel Barenboim, followed in 2015 by ‘Joan of Arc’ directed by Riccardo Chailly, who also directs it on December 7, 2018 in the role of Maddalena di Coigny in ‘Andrea Chénier’ and like ‘Tosca’ in 2019. Fifth inauguration also for Francesco apple trees And Ildar Abdrazakov.

In the visionary staging that the director Davide livermore chose, I‘the work will speak in the present tense, without specific references to current events because “we do not do news or current affairs, but art”. He will shine the spotlight on the risks “of a management of power made of blood and abuse”. He will situate the work not in a precise historical period, but in a nightmare, a dream and dystopian reality already enlivened by the science fiction thriller “Inception” by Christophe nolan (the one in which the protagonist Leonardo DiCaprio had the gift of entering dreams to steal dark secrets). To open all the scenes, imagined by the studio Giò Forma, there will be a Skyscraper which will pay homage on the facade to the design that in 1926 the architect Piero Portaluppi he thought (without ever realizing it) of a building on Corso Sempione. A “hyper labyrinth”, to use the words of the scenographer Cristina Picco in “La Scala Magazine”, “powerful and daring which crosses time and places” and which will ideally pierce the roof of Piermarini “to embark on the Milanese, New York, London or any other city ”. In the opulent halls of Macbeth and Lady’s palace they will see each other rich art collections, often with allusions and tributes to characters who really existed. Particular attention will be paid to augmented reality and special effects, in order to make the program as televised as possible: it will be used as well as game software for digital sets of the first scenes. On the small screen, even some will not go unnoticed Floral decorations, which this year will be made by Armani, founding support of the theater and official partner of December 7.

One will come out Macbeth “universal”, dystopian and dreamlike, which will narrate in a “contemporary” way the drama of political ambition at all costs and “the risks of managing power in blood and abuse,” said the director Davide Livermore. The story of one company’s disaster, without reference to particular episodes in history, not even the present one, put Livermore in its hands, “because we don’t do news, we don’t do news. news, we make art. . The scene is simply told by Macbeth by stripping us of what could be 19th century modesty ”.

Tuesday, December 7 there will be one exclusive direct from 5.45 p.m. to Rai 1, Rai 1 HD (501), Radio Rai 3 go RaiPlay, where it will be available for 15 days after the first. There will be one presenting the First and commenting on it in its intervals on Rai 1 Milly Carlucci and Bruno Vespa, with Stefania Battistini connections from the foyer. For Radio3 will follow the live Gaia Varon and Nicola Pedone. The work will be captioned and a live audio description will also be provided, produced by Rai Pubblica Utilità – Accessibility, which can be activated from TV on the dedicated audio channel and can also be streamed on RaiPlay. The first of La Scala it can also be watched on TV channels Arte (France), ZDF (Germany), RPT (Portugal), RSI (Switzerland), CESKA TELEVIZE (Czech Republic), ACTION 24 (Greece) and MTVA (Hungary). It will also be broadcast in Japan by public television NHK, in Korea by IL MEDIA and in Russia by TV Kultura.

Thanks to the social initiative of Municipality of Milan ‘Prima Diffusa’, you can follow the work in 40 offices in the Milan area and on the big screen in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Rai Com also distributes the live work 30 Italian cinemas and also in different cinemas Spain, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands and Great Britain. The work will be replayed in cinemas in Australia, South America, Russia, Belgium and France.

The audio and video recordings of the show are processed, as always, by Rai TV production center in Milan: In the field 13 high definition cameras, 45 microphones in the orchestra pit and on stage, 11 wireless microphones dedicated to soloists who will be used for stereo broadcasting and for broadcasting live commentary on Radio3, with surround sound for cinemas and television. A team of 50 people including cameramen, microphones, audio and video technicians will be hired for more than three hours of broadcasting. The direction of television will have “augmented reality” clues, about the theater: “We feel this responsibility – said the director Livermore – to speak, in addition to the thousands of spectators in the room (in the different performances) to the millions of viewers who will see this Macbeth all over the world. TV changes the point of view, which enters the folds of the stage and beyond. In particular, three small but meaningful shots will only be seen at home and will not be seen on stage. But these are not videos. It means to increase what is the vision of the scene. That is to say that we, by enlarging the image of the scene, would see the scenes, instead, on television, we will see a continuation of the scenography, which will be virtually fixed ”.