Macbeth

The ingenious works of William Shakespeare have long inspired—and continue to inspire—composers to create theatrical masterpieces of their own. Verdi turned to the Bard throughout his career, adapting three of his plays for the operatic stage and long hoping to set a fourth, King Lear, to music. His first Shakespearean drama, a chilling take on Macbeth, matches the eerie tone of the source material with a score equally as dark and unsettling—not to mention one of opera’s most hair-raising villainesses. In this 1973 radio broadcast, baritone Sherrill Milnes gives a commanding performance as the tortured title character, alongside soprano Martina Arroyo as his bloodthirsty conssort, Lady Macbeth. A veteran of more than 300 Met performances, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli takes the podium to conduct the gripping performance, which also stars tenor Franco Tagliavini as Macduff and bass-baritone Ruggero Raimondi as Banquo.