ELISSA POOLE [Globe and Mail, 27 November 2006]

Verdi's Macbeth wastes no time on the psychology of its characters in its first act, and the king's murder is no sooner mentioned than accomplished. But the opera unfolds on two planes, at two separate tempos. On the one hand, there's the trajectory of violence, which moves extremely quickly and escalates with unstoppable momentum once the first murder takes place.