OPERA San Antonio presents the first production of its 2017-18 season, Giuseppe Verdi’s Italian opera Macbeth, based on the dark and powerful Shakespearean drama.  OPERA San Antonio is a resident company of the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, and both performances – on Friday, September 8, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, September 10, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. – will be in the Tobin Center’s H-E-B Performance Hall. 

Based on the play by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is a tale of ambition that leaves a trail of death, guilt and paranoia.  Spurred by a prophecy that he will be king of Scotland, Macbeth will stop at nothing to advance his cause, abetted by his fierce wife, Lady Macbeth.  Macbeth was the first Shakespeare play that Verdi adapted for opera, and it proved to be a showcase for Verdi’s sense of political drama and the uncanny.  The stellar cast and crew will bring this masterpiece to life on stage.  The opera will be sung in Italian with English supertitles displayed above the venue stage. 

Starring international guest artists are Bass-baritone Greer Grimsley as Macbeth and German Soprano Nadja Michael as Lady Macbeth. Grimsley and Michael are both familiar with the roles and have the vocal presence and acting power to bring the characters to life. The cast includes: bass Nathan Stark as Banco, tenor Eric Barry as Macduff, mezzo-soprano Tynan Davis as Dama di Lady Macbeth, baritone Matthew Arnold as Medico, and tenor Timothy Birt as Malcolm. 

The production will be directed by Crystal Manich who will be working with sets, costumes, and other design elements from the Glimmerglass Festival in New York. Sebastian Lang-Lessing, music director of the San Antonio Symphony, will bring his experience with opera to the task of conducting Macbeth in the orchestra pit.