La Traviata

Victorian Opera was set up to bring more unusual repertoire to the operatic stage, so this was a departure from their usual fare, I suspect inspired by the opportunity to collaborate with Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini in Italy.

There was much to like about this, particularly the Violetta of ex-pat Jessica Pratt, who has been singing in Europe for the last ten years. This was beautiful singing of the highest order, but much more than that. The start of her great Act 1 showpiece, “Ah, fors e lui” was delayed for several seconds as she contemplated this new man she was inviting into her life. Then as the aria started, she casually took out her earrings, kicked off her shoes and took off her wig. It was all so right. The last note in her last act aria was pure gossamer.

As her lover, Italian tenor Alessandro Scotto Di Luzio displayed an attractive voice, though not as big as his partner. He was young and good-looking and they worked well together.  

Jose Carbo as Germont had no trouble matching Jessica with his big beautiful baritone, but was hampered by bad direction. In the second scene of Act 2 at the party he strolled on stage with no sign of urgency to confront his son. Then, instead of continuing to confront his son, or offer support to Violetta, he stood with the chorus between them looking straight out to the audience as if he was singing an oratorio. The last act was even worse as he was instructed to sing sitting nonchalantly in a chair on the other side of the stage, showing no interest in proceedings, while Violetta was dying.

There are a lot of smaller roles in La Traviata and on some of my recordings they are taken by choristers who should not have been given their moment to shine. Here some of these were taken by graduates of the VO Masters of Music program and they all showed they belonged in this exalted company. I was particularly impressed with Carlos Barcenas, Jeremy Kleeman and Nathan Lay. The experienced bass Jerzy Kozlowski was a sympathetic doctor.

I’ve now seen a few productions where they employ a mirror at 45 degrees so what is on the floor becomes the backdrop. They had different floordrops for the various scenes, and some changed mid-scene. It was quite effective and possibly cheaper than some of the larger structures often used. However, I was concerned that the second act was set outside the country retreat with a writing table in the middle of the lawn.

The chorus singing was tight and the orchestra responded well under the firm hand of Richard Mills. The costumes were lavish.

I was pleased that Her Majesty’s Theatre was chosen for this production. The theatre is often dark these days and there is a lot of history there.

However, it will be the Violetta of Jessica Pratt that people will come to see and they will not be disappointed.

Graham Ford

Images: Jessica Pratt as Violetta Valéry, Alessandro Scotto di Luzio as Alfredo Germont and Carlos E. Bárcanas as Gastone de Letorières & the company with Jessica Pratt centre. Photographer: Jeff Busby.