Those following the opera world and its biggest news items know what happened on Sept. 28, 2019. In the midst of a tumultous week in which the Met Opera’s “Macbeth” featured major cast turnover, there was still one big twist set to take place without much audience anticipation – a new baritone was to make a surprising debut in the title role.

This man was Craig Colclough, an internationally recognized bass-baritone, who had performed at many of the top theaters around the world. He was originally called in as the cover for the production, a job that does not necessarily lead to stage time. In fact, most of the time, especially at the Met, the cancelation of one major star will lead management to seek out other options before they necessarily turn to the original cover.

But on that night, Colclough was the one to take the stage opposite superstar Anna Netrebko as the murderous couple. The bass-baritone recently spoke to OperaWire about that very experience.

OperaWire: When did you get the call that you would be making your Metropolitan Opera debut?

Craig Colclough: I had been covering the production and I had a good amount of staging rehearsals. I had been working with Anna Pirozzi during her blocking sessions so luckily I was up to speed with the production.

But at 1:30 p.m. I got the call for an 8 p.m. curtain and I got the adrenaline spike. They gave me a heads up the day before because they told me Željko Lučić was not feeling great, but was still planning on doing the performance. So they got me a haircut but I wasn’t expecting it.

OW: Did you know Anna Netrebko prior to performing that evening?

CC: I met Anna for the first time 15 minutes before the show. She came into my dressing room to say hello in the midst of all the chaos and she was very sweet. With all the craziness it was surreal enough that I would be singing with her during the performance.

OW: Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a number of scenes in this work as opposed to in the play that emphasizes their intense relationship. Having no time rehearse or even knowing each other, how did you create that intimacy and relationship on stage?

CC: Luckily I had the benefit of having seen Netrebko do it and I knew that she has the stage animal ability to completely commit and go crazy. So I didn’t have to worry that she was going to be hesitant. She has this experience as a performer that it was the thing I was least worried about. I knew that she was already gonna be there and I could just meet her at the crazy and we could be covered in blood and totally power hungry and delusional and she would join me in it.

That was actually quite comforting and knowing that she would be at any level of theatrical commitment that I would hope to bring.

OW: How many productions of “Macbeth” had you done prior to this performance?

CC: I had actually done my first run of the role in Antwerp with Opera Vlaanderen and I will be returning to the role in Gent and Luxembourg. So luckily it was in my body and I had the pleasure of working with Maestro Paolo Carignini who coincidentally Netrebko did the work with for the first time. I felt blessed and well-prepared under his leadership when I first did the work.

OW: What are the biggest challenges of this role and what did you find most difficult when you stepped into this production?

CC: The physical stamina. The production I did in Belgium is very physical and more metaphoric and there are some crazy physical aspects to it. When you do the staging, your body has time to try out some movements and you have repetition and you have time to recover and a day for your body to adapt to that routine. Jumping in, having seen it and intellectually having run it was different.

To do it full out physically was a challenge because there were multiple times when I got off the stage where I had injured full muscle groups by the side of my body. I would get off the stage and once the adrenaline dropped I would realize what I did. You can stretch and do things but in the moments you are heated, you don’t realize what you did. It was a huge challenge because you don’t have enough time to prepare in a really different physical context, which makes it more complex.

OW: What was the most rewarding part of this Met debut?

CC: The best part about this Met debut was that my wife came to New York. She has been with me on the road with our children. So when I got this job which I was covering, we decided to separate for the time I was in New York. She went home to Los Angeles with my kids to stay with my parents. So the moment she knew I was going on, she jumped on a plane from Los Angeles and flew here.

The plane landed early and the show randomly started late due to the matinee. It was perfect because she was able to get there on time and see the performance. So when it ended, it was incredible. To have her there for this victory was so important. We also had people that we knew who were dear to me. That support and love were euphoric.

It was the culmination of everything we had been laboring for, for years. We couldn’t fall asleep after that. The next day I took her on a tour of the Met and went on a walk through Central Park. It was an emotional moment.

OW: Now that you have done the role on two occasions, how has Macbeth changed for you and how has it developed?

CC: When I did the run in Antwerp I was originally supposed to be covering as well. And I ended up taking on the entire run. I jumped in and it was a very rushed process learning it and I fared well. It worked but it didn’t have the maturity and strength, especially toward the end.

Having time away from it and having time to settle in the practice room, it is getting better. I had a breakthrough with my voice teacher before my debut here because we were working on it and going back to it, it is going to be playful and more mature.

OW: How does “Macbeth” differ from other Verdi roles you sing?

CC: The other main Verd role I have done a lot is Falstaff. That role is very different because the range and the way it functions is not how Verdi baritone roles work.

Macbeth is actually the first full-blown Verdi baritone with these long stretched sweeping lines. Some of the Shakespearean monologues are very similar and that helped me with the role. But the extremely challenging high sections are not traditionally what I sing.

I usually sing things like Falstaff, Telramund and Kurwenal, which are much more adaptable to my voice. The range is the same while the Verdi baritone is much higher. That was both challenging for me but it forced me to step up to that next level of technical singing which is now influencing all my other roles and it is so rewarding.

OW: Later this season you’ll be singing Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” at the LA Opera. How does Verdi differ from Mozart in your view?

OW: There is a tradition of mixing your repertoire so that you don’t blow your voice out. For me personally it’s lovely. Before the “Macbeth” at the Met, I did a “Don Pasquale” which is completely different and that it is low and I have to work down and then work the voice back up.

I did “Le Nozze di Figaro” for the first time in Atlanta and I don’t think I was ready for it. It went fine but it didn’t shimmer the way I wanted it to and it didn’t have the consistency of vowel in the recitative. It also didn’t have certain technical things that Verdi will influence in a much full-bodied approach while still lighter. This time I know it will be much more technically rounded off. And that is something I am looking forward to.

OW: You’ll be working with James Gray, a renowned film director. Do you know anything about the production and have you worked with a film director on an opera production?

OW: I have only seen the set mockups online so I don’t know much about it. I did look up his work as a film director the moment I found out and am excited about it. I love working with film directors and I love the way they think. I did Woody Allen’s “Gianni Schicchi” and I did a “Falstaff” directed by Christoph Waltz and it was completely different from anything I have done. I think there is a space for film minds to influence opera. So I am very interested to see if James Gray takes it in a newer more film-directed way.

OW: Looking into the future of your career, What are some of the works you are excited to do?

CC: I consider myself on the lower end of baritone but I would love to do “Rigoletto,” which I thought I would never do and I will do my first Alberich very soon. I will also do more “Tristan und Isolde” and “Lohengrin’s.”

I eventually want to do Der Fliegende Holländer and there are other Verdi baritone roles that I thought I would never look. at. I am still developing my FACH so we will see what the future holds.