Repertoire

 

In a deserted place witches gather for their Sabbath. Scottish generals Macbeth and Banquo return after a bloody battle that brought them victory. Unexpectedly, the witches hail Macbeth three times, as the Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and finally, as the King of Scotland. Macbeth is excited - what does this mean? After all, he is already the Thane of Glamis, and the other two titles do not belong to him. At the request of Banquo, the witches also prophesize to him: "You are lower than Macbeth, but you will eventually get higher and become happier. You will not become a king, but you are the forefather of kings..."

The witches vanish. Messengers of the king appear and announce that the Thane of Cawdor betrayed the throne and paid for it with his life. King Duncan bestows the title and the former Thane’s possessions onto Macbeth. Macbeth is certain that the prophecies are coming true, which is pleasing to his ambitions, but seeks to look cautious in front of Banquo. Banquo is confused by both the prophecy and Macbeth's reaction. There is mutual distrust between them.

 

Macbeth Castle in Inverness. Lady Macbeth reads a letter from her husband about the prophecies he heard. She is overwhelmed by an insurmountable thirst for power: Macbeth must occupy the throne! But can he become cruel and insidious, without which it is impossible to either reach the highest authority, or to keep it?!

A servant announces that King Duncan will soon come to visit them.

Macbeth returns home, filled with contradictory feelings. His wife hints to him about the obvious, in her opinion, ability to seize the throne of Scotland. Macbeth hesitates, because Duncan has always treated him favorably, and with confidence, which was confirmed during his visit.

Lady Macbeth makes her husband resolute. Killing Duncan in the bedroom, Macbeth finds no strength to return to the scene of a terrible crime in order to plant the weapon on the king's guards so that suspicion falls on them, as Lady Macbeth demands. She is forced to finish the task.

The couple hurries to appear as if they were resting in their bedroom and did not hear anything from the murder.

Macduff and Banquo arrive. Macduff, instructed to wake up Duncan, goes to the king's quarters. Banquo anticipates the inevitability of the tragedy. Indeed Macduff, and then Banquo, announce to everyone who had gathered from the commotion of the treachery and insidious murder of Duncan.

Malcolm, the son of the king, senses that danger also threatens him and escapes.

 

 

Lady Macbeth is concerned about her husband's gloom, that he avoids her. His emotional torment annoys her. After all, the act is done, there is no going back. As the heir to the throne Malcolm fled to England, suspicion for the murder of his father fell on him. But Banquo is alive. According to the prophecy, his descendants may claim the crown. Did Macbeth really kill Duncan for the sake of this? Stopping is impossible. Spilled blood calls for new crimes.

 

Assassins hide in the dark. They are tasked with killing Banquo and his son. Banquo is tormented by heavy premonitions. In a moment they come true. Banquo dies, saving his son.

 

Noblemen of Scotland gather to the castle of Inverness for a royal feast. The royal Macbeth couple triumphantly welcomes their esteemed guests.

One of the assassins reports to Macbeth that his order is fulfilled, but only half so: Banquo was killed, but his son managed to escape. Macduff, who is watching the new king, is suspicious... Macbeth is depressed, but continues to insincerely wonder about the absence of Banquo at the feast. Suddenly the bloody ghost of Banquo, whom only Macbeth can see, appears to him. The guests are surprised to watch the scene, similar to an attack of madness. Lady Macbeth, enraged at the possibility of being exposed and dashing their hopes, tries to bring her husband back to his senses.

When he regains his senses, Macbeth decides to return to the witches in search of an answer regarding his future fate.

Macduff decides to flee.

Witches conjure over their hellish brew. Macbeth pleads and threatens; he is ready to meet with powerful otherworldly spirits to hear the truth. Spirits summoned by the witches warn that he should beware of Macduff, but be focused and merciless in implementing his own plans, because he "will not be killed by a man born of a woman" and "while Birnam forest, which is eternal, will not march upon him." The forecasts, it would seem, are favorable, but Macbeth is haunted by the desire to know whether the descendants of Banquo, whom he killed, really rule.

Macbeth tells of what he saw and heard to his wife. She again encourages him, prompting him to continue the criminal struggle for power: "Let Macduff burn down the castle, let the women and children die."

... more and more blood is shed ...

 

On the borderland of England and Scotland. In Birnam forest a bitter crowd of refugees remembers their homeland. Warlord Macduff prepares for the battle to liberate Scotland from the despotic power of the usurper Macbeth. He will take revenge on him for the ruin of the ancestral castle, the death of his wife and children.

Leading the troops is the son of the slain King Duncan, the Scottish prince Malcolm. He announces an offensive and orders the soldiers to disguise themselves with the help of felled branches in order to get close to Macbeth's castle unnoticed.

 

Lady Macbeth, like a ghost, roams the castle, groaning in her sleep and rubbing her hands: “Blood stains ... I cannot wash them off...” A doctor watches the queen in fright and approaches the lady. It appears she has gone crazy...

 

Before the battle Macbeth is in a strange state. He barely responds to the news of his wife’s death. Ready for anything, he did not expect two things: that “the Birnam forest will move from its place” and Macduff, who found him for revenge, was not born as it turns out, but “taken from the womb”... Thus Macbeth realizes that this is his judgment.

 

The victorious army declares Malcolm the new king.

 

"The king is dead, so long live the king!"