LA TRAVIATA
Opera in 3 Acts
Music by Giuseppe VERDI
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave based on a play by Alexandre Dumas
First performance, Venice, 1853
Patrizia Ciofi, Roberto Sacca, Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Teatro La Fenice, Venice, Italy
Orchestra e Coro del Teatro La Fenice
Lorin Maazel, conductor
Robert Carsen, director
This 2004 Robert Carsen production restores the original musical version premiered in the same theatre in 1853. As for the stage production, Carsen updates the setting to the 1960's, casting the main character, Violetta Valery (Ciofi) as a prostitute at a time when sexual and social boundaries were collapsing.
He drills this point in no uncertain terms when during the prelude, men toss dollars into Violetta as she reclines on a huge bed; Act II plays on a forest floor filled with money, and money yet again floating down as Germont, Violetta's lover was forced to renounce her at the end of the long Act.
The party scenes were oozing with blatant sexuality as guests mill and flirt around while cowboys and cowgirls in glittering and sequined costumes bump and grind their way on the stage, providing a dramatic back drop to Germont's denunciation of Violetta.
I think I'm getting ahead of myself (this happens when I assume my readers already know the story). The story is a theme that is no different from Indira Gandhi's (at least according to my high school classmate, Barbara) favourite Oprah line: Love and Sacrifice.
Alfredo Germont falls in love with a prostitute, Violetta Valery. However, in Act II Germont's father succeeds in convincing Violetta to give up Germont because the fiance of Germont's sister won't proceed with the wedding should Germont continue his liaison with Violetta.
Violetta left Germont which devastated the latter. His grief paved the way for his denunciation of Violetta in a party they both attended.
Act III finds Violetta in a shabby in Paris, desperately weak and ill. She received a letter weeks earlier from the elder Germont, promising to come to her aid and recognizing her sacrifice. When both Germonts appeared, it was then too late, as Violetta was on the brink of death.
La Traviata, one of Verdi's most beloved operas, when it premiered in La Fenice was a resounding failure, despite the stream of melodies and dramatically explosive situations. The audience, then, weren't accustomed to "modern dress", they have been accustomed to Kings and Queens of antiquity or Grecian and Roman heroes of old which were the favourite operatic themes of the day.
In addition, the lead soprano whose character dies of consumption at the end appeared to be corpulent, as such the audience found it funny and unconvincing for somebody obviously so healthy to be on a deathbed.
La Traviata is Middle Verdi: lots of bel-canto or florid writing that harks back to Donizetti, but already shows strong signs of forging his own dramatic vocal style focusing less on ornamentation that we hear in his later operas.
This 2004 production, however engages you. Patrizia Ciofi with her gaunt, slender and slightly withering body is perfectly cast: her arresting eyes and expressive hand movements complement her equally fantastic singing, negotiating the difficult coloratura runs with confidence and purity of tone.
Her Germont, Roberto Sacca held his own with his equally demanding role, his voice exudes pain and passion and imbues it with an emotional force you can't help but feel for the guy when Violetta left him.
Probably the most in-demand baritone in the world today, Dmitri Hvorostovsky manages to shine on his own, his rich and plush tone matching the impressive vocal displays of the main protagonists.
I think the orchestra, especially the chorus, did exceptionally well, making sure the sonorities do not overwhelm the singer, Wagner-style.
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