[Met Performance] CID:190490
Macbeth {16} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/14/1962.
(Review)
Metropolitan Opera House
March 14, 1962
MACBETH {16}
Giuseppe Verdi--Francesco Maria Piave/Andrea Maffei
Macbeth.................Anselmo Colzani
Lady Macbeth............Irene Dalis
Banquo..................Giorgio Tozzi
Macduff.................Carlo Bergonzi
Malcolm.................George Shirley
Lady-in-Attendance......Carlotta Ordassy
Physician...............Gerhard Pechner
Manservant..............Carlo Tomanelli
Duncan..................Walter Hemmerly
Murderer................Calvin Marsh
Warrior.................Roald Reitan
Bloody Child............Lynn Blair
Crowned Child...........Mildred Allen
Conductor...............Joseph Rosenstock
Review of Francis D. Perkins in the Herald Tribune
'Macbeth' at the Met
Verdi's music for Lady Macbeth sometimes reaches heights which are uncomfortable for a mezzo-soprano, but Irene Dalis gave a generally impressive performance when she sang the role for the first time this season in last night's repetition of "Macbeth" at the Metropolitan Opera House.
The top notes, indeed, were not achieved without some hints of effort, and there was a touch of breathlessness in her first act aria, but the versatile Californian singer then gained assurance, scoring with a deft and musicianly use of vocal hues which conveyed the character's emotions with a constant conviction which her appearance and action reinforced. Dark moods were vividly projected, while her festive song in the banquet scene had brilliance and dramatic force.
Anselmo Colzani's Macbeth was marked by expressive conviction after a slightly understated beginning. Giorgio Tozzi fared well as Banquo in a cast which included Carlo Bergonzi as Macduff and George Shirley as Malcolm. With the orchestra in good form under Joseph Rosenstock's direction, musical balances were usually well preserved, but both Miss Daliss and Mr. Colzani found it rather hard to penetrate the mass of choral sound in the second act finale.