Vienna State Opera stages Verdi's 'Macbeth' on the main stage

The Wiener Staatsoper, long considered one of the world's leading opera houses, mounted a high-profile performance of Giuseppe Verdi's dark Shakespearean tragedy 'Macbeth' on its main stage in Vienna on the evening of 1 October 2026. The 1847 opera, revised by Verdi in 1865, follows the Scottish general and his wife as murderous ambition drives them to the throne and then to ruin. The autumn-season performance drew a sold-out house to the gilded Ringstrasse theatre and formed part of the Staatsoper's heavily watched October programme. International opera press and the Staatsoper's own calendar featured it prominently as the night's flagship performance, making it the most-read European opera-performance item of the day. Alongside the Metropolitan Opera's 'La Bohème' in New York, it anchored a notable 1 October for grand opera on both sides of the Atlantic.