Macbeth at the Sferisterio, blood-stained Palestinian flags on stage during the evening with Matteo Salvini.

Macerata, August 2, 2025 — A grand opera evening yesterday at the Macerata Opera Festival transformed into a powerful symbolic act at the Sferisterio. At the end of one of the most popular performances of Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth, staged by director Emma Dante, two red-stained Palestinian flags appeared, held out before the audience. The audience also included many prominent political figures (yesterday's evening was dedicated to mayors), including Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who left midway through the performance and was unable to witness the final gesture. For the record, before leaving Macerata, the minister stopped to visit regional councilor and former mayor of Macerata, Anna Menghi, who had felt slightly ill before the performance and was taken to the emergency room.

The Palestinian flags were a powerful gesture, charged with meaning and brought to the stage with evident intention. At the heart of one of Italy's most prestigious opera festivals, culture chose not to remain neutral. The Sferisterio thus echoed numerous cultural venues around the world that, in recent months, have expressed their dissent towards what many are calling a veritable massacre underway in Gaza. And it did so by choosing one of the most powerful works on the violence of power and the blood of innocents: the tragedy of Macbeth. The performance, acclaimed by the audience, also served as an opportunity for a message of political and civic condemnation, brought to the stage wordlessly but with a visual impact that was hard to ignore. The three flags, clearly coordinated with the rest of the set, appeared in the closing salutes, to enthusiastic applause from the audience. There was no dissent, no protests, no boos: only visible and palpable approval, amidst shouts of "Bravi!" from those occupying the official boxes and the press audience. Among the audience at Friday evening's performance were other prominent figures from the government and regional politics. In addition to Salvini—present in the box of honor next to Mayor Sandro Parcaroli—were Giorgia Latini, Vice President of the Culture Commission, Guido Castelli, Commissioner for Reconstruction, and several provincial mayors, wearing the tricolor sash. An audience, therefore, not only theatrical but also institutional, which witnessed one of the most emblematic moments of the Macerata summer season. Emma Dante's direction, already presented in 2019 and revived for this edition under the artistic direction of Barbara Minghetti, confirmed its visual prowess. A work where violence, blood, corrupt power, and madness are at the heart of the narrative: an ideal context for inserting a reference to the Middle Eastern tragedy. The references to current events are clear: bloody hands that not even all the world's oceans can wash away, tyrants overthrown, peoples chanting for freedom. Shakespearean themes, certainly, but also dramatically contemporary. The performance also left its mark artistically. After the disappointment of an evening interrupted by bad weather a few days ago, the arena finally witnessed a complete show, enhanced by the full power of the stage and music. The prolonged applause at the end was due not only to the quality of the staging, but also to the overall emotional and symbolic experience it offered. Finally, at the beginning of the evening, the show was preceded by the projection of the Italian flag on the arena's great wall, followed by Mameli's anthem and the formal greetings to mayors and ministers.