A theater actor who is taking a part as Macbeth finds himself lost in the role.

After winning in battle, Commander Macbeth receives a prophesy that he will one day become King of Scotland. Influenced by the whisperings of his wife, he literally stops at nothing to fulfil the prophesy. But racked by guilt, the Macbeths soon sink into delusions and become victims of their own thirst for power. Anna Netrebko reprises her electrifying portrayal of Lady Macbeth opposite Plácido Domingo at the Berlin State Opera. Maestro Daniel Barenboim leads the opera icons along with the Staatsopernchor and Staatskapelle Berlin.

The Prologue to Macbeth is a mystical maelstrom of Ukrainian archeological symbols and Scottish history. The Roof of Brahah sits on a rise and reflects the rhythms of demiurgical chaos that echoes in the beastly echo of something dark within us. There are almost no words in the play, only spells, rituals, sacrifices. And this was all when there were no geese, and when the king was good, and the people - a dog ... The action lulls with its sinister rhythms, the darkness, introduces into a trance, and dark and sexual witches bring down the hypothetical children of King Macbeth. . Scotland in a Ukrainian manner, a hypnotic, mystical ... beautiful and bleeding tragedy about power.

Claude D'Anna's film of Verdi's Macbeth is a gloomy affair, stressing the descent into madness of the principal villains. It's acted by the singers of the Decca recording of the opera (with two substitutions of actors standing in for singers) and the lip-synching is generally unobtrusive. The musical performance is superb, conducted by Riccardo Chailly with admirable fire, and sung by some of the leading lights of the opera stages of the 1980s. Shirley Verrett virtually owned the role of Lady Macbeth at the time, and she delivers a terrific performance, the voice equal to the role's wide register leaps and it's suffused with emotion, whether urging her husband on to murder or maddened by guilt in the Sleepwalking Scene. Leo Nucci's resonant Macbeth may lack the ultimate in vocal color and steadiness (his last notes of the great aria Pietà, rispetto, amore are wobbly) but he compensates with intensity in both singing and acting.

Katerina Izmailova, a beautiful and uneducated merchant's wife, feels lonely and bored somewhere in the Russian provinces while her older husband is often away. Years go by in her childless marriage, without an outlet for her youthful energy, resulting in constant idleness and frustration. Along comes Sergei, an unscrupulous young worker who is happy to improve his lot by seducing Katerina as he has done with others before. Katerina falls for Sergei, and this love quickly becomes her only reason for living, turning to destructive passion and ultimately to tragedy for many.

After hearing a prophecy and receiving pressure from his wife, drug dealer Macbeth decides to murder his superior and assume his position in this Shakespearean adaptation set in a Brazilian favela.