It is a thrilling, almost overwhelming experience to take one's seat in real-time in the presence of the audience at the Met, then being able to get a close-up view of performers and orchestra that the audience at the Met is not able to see. Yet, it is not quite as exciting as actually being there because the knowledge that the performers and orchestra cannot hear you stifles the natural instinct to respond with clapping at special moments or shouting bravo or brava, whichever is applicable at that particular instant. Yet, for those of us who are not able to regularly go to New York, it is a boon.

Saturday (January 12) it was the turn of Verdi's Macbeth to be sent across the ether in HD in a matinee performance from the Met. Directed by renowned Shakespearean director Adrian Noble, it featured baritone Zeljko Lucic in the title role, soprano Maria Guleghina as Lady Macbeth, and bass-baritone John Relyea as Banquo. James Levine, the Met's longstanding music director, conducted this early Verdi opera (first staged in 1847 and then revised in 1865) as the superb musical drama that it is. Yet, he was keenly sensitive to the performers, whose needs were never overshadowed by the orchestra. Like the seamless pacing of Noble's staging, so the musical performances hung wonderfully together and was finely nuanced. The same can be said of the excellent performance of the Met chorus. It was stirring when it needed to be, such as in Act I, when after King Duncan's murder, his subjects call on the forces of hell to swallow up the killers. What musical drama!

The Met, like most companies now, presented the 1865 version of Macbeth, which Verdi created for the Paris opera. Fortunately for us, the company left out the 19^th century obligatory ballet scenes. What we saw was Shakespeare with music, with just a few alterations, especially at the beginning of Act IV, when Macduff joins a group of Scottish refugees at the English border. There are no refugees in Shakespeare's drama, only soldiers. It would seem that Verdi here brought his own local situation into the work. Italy still sought independence and freedom from the yoke of France and Austria in the composer's early career.

Yugoslavian-born Zeljko Lucic imparted Macbeth's inner doubts and driving ambition. He captured the Verdian style, although somewhat restrained, and produced an elegant legato and polished sound. Ukrainian-born Maria Guleghina did not match Verdi's desire for an " ugly and evil," Lady Macbeth, with a "harsh . . . and dark voice" , as he had once written in a letter. Yet, Ms Guleghina's powerful singing had a chilling effect. A consummate actress, she dominated the stage both vocally and physically. At times her brilliant, glass-shattering top notes sheared through the combined sound of the chorus and orchestra.

Toronto-born John Relyea, son of Canadian bass-baritone Gary Relyea, proved himself to be an outstanding Banquo, Macbeth's comradein-arms in the service of Duncan. He has a robust voice to which he gave the right dark and also warm coloring needed for the role. At the same time he carried himself with the required dignity of the friend betrayed by Macbeth. Relyea made his Met debut in 2000 and has since appeared in many other productions there, including the Met's Lucia di Lammermoor last fall in which he sang Raimondo.

One must not forget the Three Witches. Verdi chose to represent them as three separate groups of the Chorus. This gave Noble an opportunity to—quite rightly—introduce some comic relief into this dark drama. Working with his designer, he turned these 'bewitching', hellish creatures into comically askew charladies, with rolled-down stockings and socks, dumpy dresses and hats, bulging purses and doddering gaits. Noble also included a few young girls to show that the next generation of witches would some day cast their ominous predictions for those who sought them out.

The sets by Mark Thompson were minimalist, yet conveyed the setting exceedingly well. His costumes placed the action into an unspecified modern time without detracting from the reality of the play. He avoided mixed 'metaphors' by ensuring that the weapons stayed within the time frame of the costumes. There was no reverting back to ancient times as happens all too often when directors and designers seem to be unable to make up their minds just where and when the action of a play or opera takes place. I still think back with horror to the COC's 2006 Götterdämmerung.