Famous Operas Based On Shakespeare Plays
It's interesting how many operas have been made out of Shakespeare's plays. It's hard to know how many, and a number of them are quite popular.
Probably the most famous are by Giuseppe Verdi (1813- 19010.) He was a great admirer of the plays , which he knew from Italian translations only. The earliest is Macbeth, or Macbetto, which dates from the 1840s and exists in an original and revised version. It follows the original fairly closely, which not all Shakespearean operas do, and can be very exciting to hear. It contains two juicy roles for a soprano as Lady Macbeth, and a baritone as Macbeth. Verdi did not want a conventionally beautiful voice for lady Macbeth, but one that was harsh and sinister-sounding. The sleepwalking scene is really spooky. The Metropolitan opera did a new production of Macbeth this past season, and it could be seen at High Definition movie theater broadcsts, PBS and heard over the radio. Look for it on DVD when it comes out.
Otello (Othello ), is Verdi's next to last opera, and one of the most powerful and compelling operas ever written. It was premiered at the famous La Scala opera in Milan in 1887. Verdi and his librettist Arrigo Boito(who also composed the opera Mefistofele ) omit Shakespeare's first act and begin the opera with a tumultuous storm in which Otello's ship arrives in Cyprus after defeating the Ottoman navy in battle. The role of Otello is one of the most demanding tenor roles in opera, and has long been a signature role of the great Spanish tenor Placido Domingo and other famous tenors of the 20th century. Check out the Franco Zefirrelli film version with Domingo, and the live DVD from the Met.
Verdi's final opera is Falstaff, based on The Merry Wives of Windsor. He had written only one comic opera before early in his career , which is almost never performed today. The role of the fat, jolly, boozing rogue Falstaff is one of the great baritone roles. Verdi is famous for tragic operas like La Traviata, Rigoletto, and others, but Falstaff is unlike anything else by this composer. It's full of wit and enchantment. There are a number of DVD versions available.
Some lesser known but worthwhile operas based on Shakespeare are "Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor" , by the German composer Otto Nicolai (1810- 1849 ) , which is basically the same as the Merry Wives of Windsor. It's in German, and as far as I know there are no DVD versions, but it has been recorded. If not as great as Verdi's Falstaff, it's quite charming and tuneful.
Verdi wanted to write an operatic version of King Lear but never got around to it, but the contemporary German composer Aribert Reimann has written an interesting if musically very complex and difficult one , premiered in Munich in in 1978 and written for the great German baritone Dietrich Fischer -Dieskau (1925-), now retired. The live recording of the world premiere recording has recently been reissued on Deutsche Grammophon records. It's anything but easy listening, but worth getting to know.
The gifted young English composer Thomas Ades (A-dess) (1971), has written very recent version of the Tempest, which I have not heard. The composer conducted the world premiere at the Royal opera in London a few years ago, and the Metropolitan opera is scheduled to do it in a couple of years or so. It sounds interesting.
The French composer Ambroise Thomas , an almost exact contemporary of Verdi, is little known today, but his operatic version of Hamlet was once very popular. Unfortunately, the opera takes many liberties with Shakespeare's plotline. I have heard the EMI recording with the famous American baritone Thomas Hampson, but this may not be availabe at the time. Check arkivmusic.com. I believe there is at least one DVD version. If not one of the greatest operas, it's very entertaining.