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LA TRAVIATA
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Cast:
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Violetta Valery: ANA MARIA MARTINEZ
(alternating with Norah Amsellem)
Flora: LIORA GRODNIKAITE
Marquis d'Obigny: JEREMY WHITE
Baron Douphol: DARREN JEFFERY
(alternating with Eddie Wade)
Doctor Grenvil: GRAEME BROADBENT
Gaston de Letorieres: ROBERT MURRAY
(alternating with James Edwards)
Alfredo Germont: CHARLES CASTRONOVO
(alternating with Joseph Callleja)
Annina: GILLIAN KNIGHT
Giuseppe: NEIL GILLSESPIE
Giorgio Germont: GERALD FINLEY
(alternating with Anthony Michaels-Moore)
Messenger: THOMAS BARNARD
Servant: JONATHAN COAD
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Orchestra and chorus of the Royal Opera House, conducted by
MAURIZIO? BENINI
?
This was a
fairly "traditional" production, and I loved it! (I'm not known for
my love of traditional productions). As the prelude begins, played with ethereal
beauty by the orchestra under Benini, we see Violetta sitting alone in the
shadows, wearing a white dress - then as Act I starts, she coughs before
putting a brave face on things as she rises to greet her guests. She is the
only one of the women to wear white, a colour which is in fact inappropriate to
her profession!!
? But of course it
singles her out as the heroine, standing out from all the? other women, and Martinez looks beautiful
and vulnerable in it, just as one imagines Violetta to be. (I mention this at
some length because it's a very effective example of scene-setting). She has
exactly the right? sort of voice for
this role, her high notes spinning off into ethereal? (that word again!) nothingness. "Ah fors'蠬ui" was
sung hesitantly,? slowly, as she weighs
every word, so that one really gets the impression that? this is a woman alone with her thoughts. So
I was a bit annoyed that people started clapping before she started on
"Sempre libera" - not that she didn't deserve the applause, but that
I felt this was more than just? the
soprano "showing off" and the dramatic tension shouldn't have been
broken. There was a very effective contrast between the? thoughtfulness of "Ah,fors'e lui"
and the frenetic hysteria of "Sempre libera" - which? she does, however, sing without moving
around on the stage very much -? she's
dying, remember, and the static delivery of this section reminds you? of it rather forcefully.
?
Of course,
it's the soprano's evening, and I still have more to say? about her, but the performances of Charles
Castronovo and Gerald Finley? were not
without merit! Finley started off well, actually portraying Germont
Senior as a
not entirely unsympathetic character - yes, he is a? sanctimonious old killjoy, but in his eyes he is doing what any
caring father would do - ensuring that his daughter (and his son too, in due
course) is able to make an advantageous marriage. Be that as it may -
unfortunately,? Finley's voice cracked
terribly when he got to "Dio m'essaud좠- but he? recovered and soldiered bravely on. I felt
sorry for him, and thought it was a? bit
mean to boo him at the end - unless, of course, people are booing the
CHARACTER....
?
I liked
Charles Castronovo's singing, he has a very pleasant, unforced tenor, and he
did succeed in conveying Alfredo's rather shallow, thoughtless nature - he's
very young, after all.
?
Martinez was
even better in the scene with Germont Senior, and I? really noticed this time the SILENCES, or at least pauses,
suspension of? sound (music and text)
that Verdi uses in this scene, just a couple of times there are a few seconds
of absolute silence while Violetta struggles?
to come to terms with the situation. And when it came to "Amami,? Alfredo".....I was in floods of tears by
this stage, of course. And by the final act?
I was crying so much I couldn't see the stage anyway!! "Adddio
del? passato" got both verses,? and was just absolutely heart-breaking.
?
Dr. Jane Susanna ENNIS
http://members.fortunecity.co.uk/leonora/opera.html
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