Thursday 1 May 2014

Addio del passato......La Traviata, Royal Opera House, 30 April 2014

I wasn't originally going to attend this set of performances of Verdi's classic opera; performances are split between two casts and I was saving my pennies for the second cast - more of which later.  But thanks to the offices of a Twitter friend (thanks Ruth), a standing ticket became mine for this matinee performance.  Even better, due to the slow tickets sales in the more expensive parts of the house, I found myself sitting in the stalls - a very rare occurrence.

This is a handsome and well-known production of Traviata, first seeing the light of day in 1994 and I remember it well from the tv broadcast with Angela Gheorghiu who made such a splash in the role. My hoard of programmes also reveal that I saw this production in the Albert Hall in 1998 during the period when the opera house was closed for refurbishment.  To be honest, I can't remember that much about the Albert Hall experience so I was keen to reacquaint myself with Richard Eyre's production.




The physical production is as traditional as they come but is relatively uncluttered and tells the story well - which is all you can ask of a a production be it traditional or modern.  I liked the contrast between the sumptuous Parisian settings of Act 1 and the second half of Act 2, and the more restrained and slightly abstract look for Violetta and Alfredo's country hideaway at the beginning of Act 2.  Act 3 of course, was all whitewashed desolation as Violetta met her tragic end.

Diana Damrau as Violetta, was one of the main reasons I wanted to catch this cast.  She has only recently taken the role into her repertoire, having previously concentrated on the purely coloratura soprano roles. Reviews have predictably been mixed after performances at La Scala and at the Met.  I wasn't exactly sure what to expect but in the end I found her portrayal of this iconic character very moving.  The first act vocal hurdles caused her no problems at all, although I was less keen on her physical embodiment of the character, with a slight case of overacting and over the top gestures.  'Old fashioned' is the phrase that springs to mind. This gradually settled down as the opera progressed - or perhaps I just got used to it.  Either way, she was very physically into the role, certainly fainting and collapsing very impressively on several occasions.  The final act was the most impressive of all and I don't think I have seen another soprano embody the physical frailty of Violetta quite so well.  She even managed to carry off the final 'swan-song' in this production - where the soprano has a last burst of energy and runs around the stage before collapsing. She managed to make this look not only plausible but heartbreaking.

Vocally there were no complaints at all from me.  Not only did she fearlessly throw off the coloratura of the first act (complete with high E to finish), but also negotiated the more dramatic and emotional requirements of Acts 2 and 3.  The audience were suitably appreciative and she received the biggest applause of the day.


Dmitri Hvorotovsky is no stranger to this production, in fact he made his ROH debut as Georgio Germont at the Albert Hall performances which I attended in 1998.  He is probably a little more suited to the elder Gemont now, although he did sound a bit 'throaty' to begin with, he soon warmed up and his duet with Violetta in Act 2 was a masterclass in controlled and beautiful legato.  His physical interpretation was also interesting, suggesting an attraction to Violetta which he manfully tried to hide.  I actually quite liked this approach which makes the elder Germont seem less of a one-dimensional 'baddie' than I have seen portrayed in other productions.

In fact, I did wonder at times why Violetta didn't run off with Papa Germont rather than his son! That's not to say that there was anything wrong with Francesco Demuro's portrayal of Alfredo - just that I didn't really feel there was any special chemistry with Damrau and so I was less involved with the 'tragic romance' aspect on this occasion.  Demuro has a fine lyric voice well suited to this role his Alfredo was impetuous, naive and somewhat self-absorbed and selfish.  I haven't always noticed this about Alfredo before, as in other productions the emphasis can be towards the romance and the undercurrents are forgotten.  It worked well but as I said, I did begin to wonder why Violetta had fallen in love with him.

All in all it was a very satisfying performance of an old favourite.  I tweeted after the performance saying it was 'delightfully old-fashioned'.  This is not a criticism by any means although there was a touch of (deliberate?) nostalgia about the whole thing.  Interpolated high notes, all cabalettas included, sumptuous sets and costumes and end of act curtain calls made the whole things seem like a throwback to another time.  But there were also the old fashioned virtues of fantastic singing, an understandable narrative and total commitment from all involved.

As I mentioned, I'm going to see this production again with the second cast.  Ailyn Perez stars as Violetta with her husband Stephen Costello portraying Alfredo.  And if that wasn't enough there is also the attraction of Simon Keenlyside as Georgio Germont.  To say that I'm looking forward to this would be understatement indeed.





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