Verdi's Macbeth and Otello in Brno at the Verge of the Velvet Revolution : Between Stage Metaphor and Stage Realism
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| Year of publication | 2017 |
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| Description | Ladislav Vychodil, an outstanding Czechoslovak scenographer, together with Josef Jelínek, renowned costume designer, significantly contributed to the productions of two Shakespearean operas in Brno State Theatre in the 80s of the 20th century: Macbeth (1987) and Otello (1989) by Giuseppe Verdi. In cooperation with the well-known director Václav Věžník, younger co-worker of renowned operatic director Miloš Wasserbauer, Vychodil and Jelínek created remarkable scenography for the operatic productions. Both operas, staged in the final years of the declining Communist regime in Czechoslovakia just before the Velvet Revolution, are remembered until today. In my paper I provide the analysis of both productions. For the purpose of my analysis, I put emphasise on the interference between the stage metaphor and the stage realism since I perceive it as the crucial point in the process of creating scenography of both productions. I also focus on Verdi's and Boito's approach to the key concepts and motives in the original plays by William Shakespeare, as these key concepts are ingeniously incorporated into both operatic adaptations. The scenography of both operatic productions by Vychodil and Jelínek and the pioneering approach to the key concepts in the operas strongly contributed to the success of both productions in Brno. |
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