Nicola Luisotti, now Music Director of both San Francisco Opera and the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, made a dazzling Seattle Opera debut--one which won him the Artist of the Year award for 2006--conducting a new production of Verdi's "Macbeth," directed by Bernard Uzan and designed by Robert Israel.

At the end of Act One, Banquo (Burak Bilgili) reveals that King Duncan has been assassinated. The entire company, including Macbeth (Gordon Hawkins), Lady Macbeth (Andrea Gruber), and the Seattle Opera Chorus, explode with horror: "Let the jaws of hell open wide and swallow all of creation; may fire from heaven consume the detested murderer." Nicola Luisotti conducts the orchestra of Seattle Opera. Photo by Rozarii Lynch.