1847 version's ending: Macduff pursues and fights Macbeth who falls. He tells Macbeth that he was not "born of woman" but "ripped" from his mother's womb. Fighting continues. Mortally wounded, Macbeth, in a final aria – Mal per me che m'affidai / "Trusting in the prophecies of Hell" – proclaims that trusting in these prophecies has caused his downfall. He dies on stage, while Macduff's men proclaim Malcolm to be the new King.] Macduff pursues and fights Macbeth who falls wounded. He tells Macbeth that he was not "born of woman" but "untimely ripped" from his mother's womb. Macbeth responds in anguish (Cielo! / "Heaven") and the two continue fighting, then disappear from view. Macduff returns indicating to his men that he has killed Macbeth. He then turns to Malcolm, hailing him as King. The scene ends with a hymn to victory sung by bards, soldiers, and Scottish women (Salve, o re!/ "Hail, oh King!). Malcolm as King, and Macduff as hero, together swear to restore the realm to greatness. Music Writing in the New Grove Dictionary, musicologist Roger Parker sees the opera as revealing Verdi's "attention to detail and sureness of effect unprecedented in earlier works. This holds true as much for the 'conventional' numbers....as for formal experiments like the Macbeth-Banquo duettino in act 1." Baldini's analysis of the structure of the score in relation to the drama (and the comparison between the two versions) is highly detailed and worthy of examination. He notes that it is not always the 1865 material which is better or more suited than that from 1847. While he is not alone in raising the issue of the contrast between the 1847 version and that of 1865 ("the passage of 18 years was just too long to allow him to re-enter his original conception at every point"), in the final analysis for musicologist Julian Budden, the disparity between the versions cannot be reconciled. However, along with Parker, he does concede that "even the traditional elements are better handled than in Attila or Alzira [and] the arias grow organically from the implications of their own material, rather than from the deliberate elaboration of a formula." Recordings References Notes Sources Baldini, Gabriele, (trans. Roger Parker) (1980), The Story of Giuseppe Verdi: Oberto to Un Ballo in Maschera. Cambridge, et al: Cambridge University Press. Budden, Julian (1984), The Operas of Verdi, Vol 1, 3rd edition, New York: