LA TRAVIATA (Wiener Staatsoper)*****

  

By Louise 

Link: https://play.wiener-staatsoper.at/event/9cf2fd88-22e0-429f-bd18-1fbb01629585/play

Available until: 9^th March at about 6pm

Most of the productions Wiener Staatsoper have been making available on their website are old productions which have been filmed, but every so often, they’ve been putting on new productions which are streamed live. Their Le nozze di Figaro a couple of weeks ago was really brilliant and so is La traviata.

It is gorgeously conducted by Giacomo Sagripanti and he is really sensitive to the way the singers perform their roles. Giuseppe Verdi’s music is full of emotion and this is maybe the one where he gets most deeply into the hearts of his characters. It is a very sad story and there isn’t really anyone bad in it. People make bad decisions, but nobody is a bad person. The librettists, Francesco Maria Piave and Alexandre Dumas fils don’t really make anyone dislikeable, though some people will be upset by what Giorgio Germont (or George Germont as he’s called in the credits) does in Act 2 and he is one of only three fully-developed characters. The other two are obviously Violetta and Alfredo (or Alfred in the credits, though I’m sure everyone calls him Alfredo in the opera).

Simon Stone’s production of La traviata is a very modern production. A lot of modern productions of older operas are very interesting to watch and they work, but they’re not always as convincing as a production that is more conventional. La traviata is one of the exceptions. Violetta is a celebrity. She is seen walking along the red carpet, attending big parties and she seems to be in the middle of a shoot when she meets Alfredo’s father in Act 2. There are also mobile phones and tablets. Alfredo scrolls through his phone when he’s trying to find out where Violetta might have gone and you can imagine he’s on twitter looking for something like ‘can’t wait for @florabervoix party, got a rly cute dress from @ASOS!’.

Bob Cousins has created some lovely sets for the parties. Some of them swing round so we can see the inside and outside of the building. The set for Act 3 is really sad, but he makes it look convincing and believable and nothing gets in the way. I really love Alice Babidge’s costumes, especially for Violetta.

Some people who have discussed modern productions of La traviata have been worried that the scene between Violetta and Giorgio Germont wouldn’t work, but I think it works very well. Almost everything celebrities do is in the public eye now and there is a lot of bad Press and negativity and it can have an impact on the families of the people involved. That doesn’t mean it’s okay to ask your son’s girlfriend to leave your son, but it is easy to understand why Germont was worried about how his daughter might be affected by it.

Violetta is sung by Pretty Yende. I hadn’t heard of her, but she might be my favourite Violetta now. Her voice is so beautiful and although I know it is a really difficult role to sing, it never shows in her voice. She is a really incredible actor too. Her Violetta is really sweet and lovely and genuine, and the sad parts of the story are so moving. I’m sure I would have fallen in love with her too if I was a lesbian, bisexual or pansexual.

Alfredo is sung by Juan Diego Flórez. He sings the role brilliantly of course and his acting is so moving. He really does love Violetta very much. Igor Golovatenko is lovely too as Giorgio Germont. He is quite strict and he has some old-fashioned ideas, but he is so kind. Margaret Plummer is a glamorous Flora, Donna Ellen is a businesslike Annina, Ilja Kazakov is a grave but compassionate Dottore/Doktor Grenvil and Attila Mokus is quite a likeable Baron Douphol.

 

This is such a brilliant production and it tells the story really well and Pretty Yende is so amazing.