Eighteen of us, including 10 young children, attended this Royal Opera House school matinee sponsored by Legal & General. Below follow some reflections:

I had read the story of Macbeth before I saw the opera at the Royal Opera House. I found it was scary when reading it, but the stage was magnificent with colours of black, red and white. The scenes I liked best were those with horses. I thought Lady Macbeth sang as well as dressed beautifully.
Miteki Ochi, age 6

I think when King Duncan was killed by Macbeth it was very sad, because he died earlier than he would have. I loved the way everyone sang, particularly the main characters. I was amazed when the witches were actually singing at the same time.
Kay Howard-Shigeno, age 7

I liked all the blood and violence in Macbeth which was not as scary as I thought it would be. I really liked how all the witches kept their voices together. The orchestra had good dynamics and the conductor kept everyone in the orchestra together. Lady Macbeth was my favourite character because she was fantastic at singing as well as acting and she had a brilliant expression on her face (which, too, made Lady Macbeth look real).
P.S: I do not really like human blood, only acting fake blood.
Question: where did the baby, which was born, go?
May Howard-Shigeno, age 9

Last time we went to the Royal Opera House we sat on the opposite side from where we were this time and this time seemed better.
The performance started with about twenty-five witches on the stage, but there were meant to be three according to Shakespeare. They looked like Frida Kahlo, because of the ‘unibrow,’ and they all wore red turbans, black dresses and necklaces and held a staff each. They used the staffs to stir the cauldrons in time with the music. I remember the music in the first bit when the witches are singing because the song is so striking. The spectres were also not to be missed as was King Duncan’s golden horse, which was dazzling and bright and made me think of the sun. It wasn’t very convincing when Duncan was killed because Macbeth and Lady Macbeth had blood all over their hands and people don’t plunge their hands into the wound when they kill someone. The blood was fake on Duncan’s dead body and smeared all over the sheets.
I remember the children being carried onto Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s bed by the witches – as if they were flying – but it was only a vision, and then the children were whisked away to somewhere we don’t know about. Another special bit was the walking wood – it is an important part of the story. It is when the English are attacking Macbeth. It didn’t look like a wood, it looked like sticks on end, but the effect was good. The sticks became spears to block Macbeth from escaping from Macduff.
I’m glad I saw this show because I’ve read a children’s version of Shakespeare’s story and this was different in lots of ways – the witches, the cage, the tap – which was interesting.
Otto Saner, age 9

I liked Macbeth very much, I thought it was interesting. It was probably a bit too complicated and serious for me but I enjoyed it. I was a bit confused at the beginning because there were more than three witches, but then I got it: they really did look like witches! It was funny when the King tried to get off his "golden" horse! Lady Macbeth had an INCREDIBLE voice, it was very loud. The costumes were very nice (apart from the dirty ones!). The blood was something I liked too because there was lots! It was fun the way the scenery would change all the time. I liked it when Macbeth was having a dream of having lots of kids who would fly into his bed with Lady Macbeth.
Oscar Blouin Cooke, age 10

Verdi wrote two versions of the opera Macbeth. The first was performed in1847, the second in 1865. The one we watched was the one written in1865. Macbeth is a truly magnificent show and one of Shakespeare’s best plays. The opera opens when the witches are describing their terrible deeds. They greet Macbeth as future King of Scotland and Banquo as father of future kings. Messengers arrive to announce that Macbeth is now heir to the throne. Lady Macbeth receives a letter from Macbeth telling her of his victory in battle and of the witches’ prophecy of him becoming king. When a messenger announces that King Duncan is on his way to stay at the castle, Lady Macbeth realises they must act that night. Macbeth appears and quickly agrees to the murder. This is the first act of the opera Macbeth and it is a memorable one. It was a truly great opportunity to see the amazing play written by Shakespeare and to see the actors acting. We could read the translation as well. My favourite opera singer was Lady Macbeth. She was amazing at singing and my favourite part was when she was singing about Macbeth becoming king, and him not being brave enough to take what was to be his, and thinking of him murdering King Duncan so he can become king sooner.
There was a very funny bit when King Duncan arrived and he was on a gold horse. Macbeth went over to him and tried to help him get off. King Duncan’s foot got stuck in the rein and the horse was leaning dangerously to one side. Macbeth had to shove the horse back so it didn’t fall down.
I like this opera better than Maskarade and the ballet Sylvia, because it was more interesting and it was exciting. The music was especially good and it was made to fit with the play. The orchestra played well and if there was no orchestra playing the music, the opera wouldn’t have been half as amazing as it was. The conductor had tried really hard to make the music right and all his hard work was not wasted.
Thank you so much for letting us have this wonderful opportunity and I very much hope we will have another chance of going to the Royal Opera House and seeing another ballet or opera.
Akira Leyow, age 11

The music made me feel alive because it was so exciting, building-up to dramatic moments in the story. The witches’ song at the beginning was most memorable, especially as we had been listening to a recording beforehand. I was surprised there were so many of them because I was expecting only three. Having so many witches made it more dramatic, because they could make more sound.
I liked the big belts, which made the men look fierce, and the wigs which made the play look historic rather than modern. I thought Lady Macbeth’s voice was very powerful and clear, especially in the scene when she had become queen and was wearing a golden costume. The whole scene was brilliant because everyone was on stage, singing, and it sent shivers down my spine. The stage was very clever, with lots of different openings that you didn’t know about at the beginning. There were more along the way. I think there could have been more props, like tables and chairs and things. I think it would have been more interesting to see the performers have to move around them and go to different parts of the stage. I liked the tap. You wouldn’t expect to see one on stage. I guess it was there to try and make their hands clean – and their souls – after all the killing.
Minerva Saner, age 11

I thought the play was very well done. First of all the costume designer captured the play perfectly, the actors were in my opinion good but not great , the music was in itself very well done but was not helped by the fact that Macbeth is not a musical but a play.
Though the music may be well done, Macbeth is a play so I thought they could have chosen a better theme (but I am not saying it was bad, as I really liked it). I know theatre directors make changes, but I did not like the fact that they changed the three witches into about two dozens. (the change was made by the composer of the opera, Verdi, and not by any theatre director – Agnes Kory)
Finally, the set was superb and the Royal Opera House was once again a great venue for this play. Overall it was very good and I would advise most people to go and see it.
Hugo Blouin Cooke, age 13

I thought that the operatic production of Macbeth at the Royal Opera House was a highly enjoyable experience that I would recommend to anyone. I felt that the way in which the story was interpreted by Verdi was very effective and easy to follow because the music illustrated so clearly the various characters’ moods and emotions. In the past I have seen stage productions of Macbeth and - although this operatic production was of the highest standard - I felt that the way in which Shakespeare intended the story to be delivered gives the audience a better sense of the exact mood and atmosphere of the piece.
Sophia Dignam, age 15

Verdi’s Macbeth under the direction of Phyllida’s Lloyd at the Royal Opera House was a compelling production of the opera based on the Shakespearian play. Thinking of the drama Macbeth, we usually imagine a dark and gloomy Scotland from the Middle Ages, the time of the real King Macbeth. Therefore, it was quite surprising for me, to see it ‘dressed’ in the 19th century Italian music that is somewhat opposite to ‘dark and gloomy’. I could clearly see this contrast through the performance of Violeta Urmana in the role of Lady Macbeth; she sang skilfully in the style that I believe to be of Verdi’s time (large vibrato) and played well the drama of her character just as a Shakespearian play demands it.
Apart from the beautiful music, Macbeth was also an enjoyable visual experience. There were a few interesting scenes, for example the one representing the dream of Macbeth and his wife about the children that they will never have. In this scene, children dressed in white, would fly onto Macbeth’s marital bed with the help of the witches. Lighting and designs were also appealing, grey concrete walls were quite convincing in representing a Scottish castle from the Middle Ages. Those walls would sometimes split showing a beam of light that would look like a sword, emphasizing all the crimes that Macbeth and his wife have committed. Another detail in the designs that was reminding us of Macbeth’s guilt was the water tap, which Macbeth used to wash the blood of his hands, trying to wash away his deeds.
I enjoyed Macbeth very much and also it was yet another occasion to reflect on how relevant Shakespeare was till this day.
Kinga Bujakowska, postgraduate student of genetics

Macbeth is a great opera yet to be written - while perhaps there may be other operas on the subject that I am unaware of, this one came across as less than the sum of its Shakespearean parts. Musically the opera satisfies most in the first half, precisely the opposite of what is surely needed - and this is most prevalent in the insipid battle scene of the final act, more a damp squib than the climax one would hope for. This was no fault of the singers however - the two main leads were both excellent, in particular Violeta Urmana as Lady Macbeth, who managed to rise above some of Verdi's less inspired moments in projecting depth of character and narrative, and all in strong, sterling voice.
Michael Young, postgraduate music student

We cannot complain about the quality which we witnessed at this school matinee. Thomas Hampson (Macbeth) and Violeta Urmana (Lady Macbeth) are stars of international opera stages and deservedly so. Both are excellent singers and either they have very special chemistry between them or they are wonderful actors: right from the start there was no doubt about the strong bond between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Conductor Yakov Kreizberg was also excellent. He clearly knew Verdi’s score and he seemed to be very aware of the job in hand which was to keep all dimensions (soloists, chorus, orchestra and even the dancers) united in ensemble and in style. Far too often conductors think that they are there only to inspire and they forget to deliver what is essentially the main task of a conductor.
The sign language was puzzling. Wendy Ebsworth interpreted the Italian text into British Sign Language (BSL) while surtitles above the stage provided the English version of Piave’s Italian libretto. Though I understand that BSL is the preferred language of over 70000 deaf people in the UK, I can’t help thinking that they can also read English (even though it functions as a foreign language for them). Ironically, I was puzzled because of the extremely expressive qualities of Wendy Ebsworth whose art I greatly admired in English National Opera performances without surtitles. Here, for the scenes between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, we had the excellent singer/actors Thomas Hampson and Violeta Urmana as well as Wendy Ebsworth within a few yards from each other. This was a feast for the eyes and senses but I could not help thinking that there were three people in this marriage. Three wonderfully gifted people, I hasten to add.
Quality was the name of the game during the whole of the matinee. We were fortunate.
Agnes Kory