Is this an opera I see before me? Well, no actually.

Music Everything I'd ever need to say about how I feel about opera is expressed in the last review of the last time I saw a whole opera although perhaps I should modify one of the statements having listened to the whole of Verdi's 1865 rendering of Macbeth during Prom 15 tonight:

(a) I quite liked the operatic singing ...
(b) But I still didn't love this rendering of the opera

Possibly because

(c) I didn't see any of it.

For some bizarre reason, despite the appearance of a Prom concert last Tuesday and next, BBC Four failed to carry one of the few concerts in which, I'd argue, actually seeing the thing helps with the appreciation of it. This was semi-staged version, with as the commentary emphasised included most of the costumes and much of the bloody staging, axes and kilts included, the kind of stuff an opera novice like me could get their teeth into.

And as I said, the playing and singing all sounded very impressive. Except I couldn't get a handle on it. I'm yes, yes, it's Shakespeare, and I seem to have seen Macbeth a hundred times, so it's not as though I haven't some idea of the plot. But what I wanted was to be able to see the narrative as it happened, not having to guess which aria was being sung by whom about what.

Now and then, I did manage to work out what was happening in the odd scene such as when Lasy Macbeth was working her charm on her husband or where everything went to hell but generally it became a kind of classical soup, chords and voices all blending into one another to the point that for the first time in The Proms I really felt defeated. I can see now why Operas in music shops tend to come in boxes with very big booklets explaining everything.

Obviously if I was much more familiar with the opera, perhaps seen it performed before, had some idea of the staging I could appreciate the performances better, the different decisions being made in performance. But this was the first time during The Proms that I felt a bit ignorant, cursing the fact that I couldn't speak Italian. How silly is that? Especially since it could have been broadcast without subtitles too and I'd probably have the same complaint.

Despite all of this though, I was impressed in places, particularly those moments which were purely orchestral, the booming of the brass, the swirling strings. Plus, I suspect there are technical or financial reasons why a television broadcast didn't happen -- licensing deals from Glyndebourne and other broadcasters, appearance fees for performers, the potential violence of the piece being shown pre-watershed. It's just that after all the build up only those visitors to the Hall could see the whole of the performance and be able to judge its merits.