What is Macbeth (opera)?
{{About|the Verdi opera|the Shakespeare play|Macbeth}} '''''Macbeth''''' is an opera by [[Giuseppe Verdi]]. It is based on [[Shakespeare]]’s [[Macbeth|play with the same name]]. The opera is normally in [[Italian language|Italian]], though there is also a [[French language|French]] version that's almost never used anymore. The [[libretto]] (the words) was written by [[Francesco Maria Piave]] with some extra additions by Andrea Maffei. Verdi wrote several works based on Shakespeare plays. ''Macbeth'' was the first of these. It was composed in [[1847]], at a time when he was composing a lot of operas. In those days Italian operas were always about a love story, but ''Macbeth'' was unusual because there was no love story. Instead, it is a story about wanting power, even if means murder. The opera helped to make him very famous, and it has remained one of his most popular operas. ==Composition history== Andrea Maffei, a poet and friend of Verdi, suggested to him that ''Macbeth'' would be a good story to make into an opera. Verdi did not read Shakespeare’s original work until after he had composed the opera. The words were written for him by Piave who based the libretto on an Italian translation. Verdi loved the story, he thought it was “one of the greatest creations of man”. The opera is very similar to the story told by Shakespeare, but Verdi uses a large chorus of witches instead of just three. The last act ends with the refugees coming together on the English border, and, in the revised version, ends with a chorus of bards celebrating their victory over the cruel [[tyrant]]. The 1847 version was performed a great deal all over Italy. Then, in 1865, Verdi made several changes to the opera in a revised version. It was to be performed in [[Paris]], and in France people expected to have [[ballet]] music in operas. Verdi wrote some music for the dancers, and took the opportunity to make other changes as well. Verdi worked in Italian, and had it translated into French for the performance there, bu