Shostakovich - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (OperaVision on YouTube)

This evening I decided it was time to watch the Birmingham Opera Company's 'reinvention' of Lady Macbeth, made available by OperaVision on YouTube. According to the blurb:

'Birmingham Opera Company's 50th production relocates Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk to a disused, iconic nightclub where, amidst the 150 volunteer actors and chorus, audience members encountered bloody brides, oversized rats and poisoned wedding guests. Accompanied on stage by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and a band from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and with a radical set design by the Banksy collaborators Block 9, "the production is perhaps its most brilliant so far" (The Observer).'

The audience certainly seem to enjoy it, and I see The Guardian gave it five stars, calling it 'a blast of pure energy.' The production, with its injection of community involvement, makes up to some extent for occasional shortcomings among the voices (closely, i.e. unkindly, miked) and problems of coordination owing to the action moving around the space, taking the audience with it. The choral scenes at start of the last act are especially successful. It takes some time to get used to the text being in English, but it generates more immediate audience reaction and a greater sense of engagement.

Here's the video:

And here's the cast:

Conductor: Alpesh Chauhan. Director: Graham Vick. Design: Block9. Movement Director: Ron Howell. Lighting Design: Giuseppe Di Iorio. Wife: Chrystal E Williams. The Father in Law: Eric Greene. The Husband: Joshua Stewart. The Lover: Brenden Gunnell. The Engineer: Themba Mvula. The Driver: Dominick Felix. The Maid: Grace Nyandoro. The Seedy Lout: James Kryshak. The Porter: Andrew Clarke. The Steward: James Ioelu. The Three Foremen: Andrew Clarke, Dominick Felix, Jack Sandison. The Priest: James Ioelu. The Father in Law's Ghost: Eric Greene. The Chief of Police: Quentin Hayes. The Arresting Officer: Themba Mvula. The Socialist: Edward Harrisson. The Drunken Guest: Dominick Felix. The Prison Guards: Themba Mvula, James Ioelu. The Prisoner: Eric Greene. The Pole Dancer: Lilly Papaioannou. The Other Woman: Grace Nyandoro. Birmingham Opera Company Chorus and Actors. City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.