Giuseppe Verdi’s lifelong obsession with Shakespeare resulted in one of the most celebrated creative relationships in music history: Macbeth, the first of Verdi’s Shakespearean trilogy, is a dark psychological dive into unbridled ambition, guilt, and paranoia. In this course, we explore Verdi’s rendition of the Scottish king—driven by Witches’ prophecies and haunted by the ghosts of his murderous political ascent, with his power-mad Lady Macbeth, together determined to seize the throne at any cost. We’ll view and discuss the 2014 videorecording of the Metropolitan Opera’s star-studded performance (Anna Netrebko, ?eljko Lučić): The simultaneous Italian and English subtitles will help to reinforce (or introduce) Italian-language skills, while deepening appreciation of that interrelationship between music and text which is unique to opera. There are (optional) class trips: to Lincoln Center, NYC, for the Metropolitan Opera’s new production, starring Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen (Sunday, Oct. 11, 3:00 pm); and at the Regal Cinema, North Brunswick, NJ (Oct. 17, 1:00 pm).