La Traviata with La Netrebko

One of the hottest tickets of the ROH season was always going to be this revival of Richard Eyres’s very successful production of “La Traviata”. Not only did it promise Anna Netbrebko’s debut in this production but also Jonas Kaufmann as Alfredo and Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Giorgio Germont.

The first night received sensational reviews: ‘a life changing experience’ wrote one overwhelmed hack. But then disaster struck and La Netrebko went down with a chest infection leaving the sold out houses to a lady from Albania. But by Saturday Anna was back, in time for my visit and the BBC recording (to be played on radio 3 on Saturday 9 February).

And sensational she was indeed. She looked fabulous in Bob Crowley’s beautiful frocks, she acted naturally and convincingly and her diction was excellent. This was the first time I had heard her and the first thing that I was struck by was the sheer size of the voice: this is a huge and luscious instrument. It is beautiful in tone and even right through its range up to a top D (no E flat). She could shade it for expressive subtlety and fine it down for a heart-stopping pianissimo, as she did for the start of the second verse (sic) of “Addio del passato”. The only thing that was lacking was an easy facility in the coloratura of Act I, which was all a bit approximate. How she has sung Amina in “La sonnambula” and Elvira in “I Puritani” leaves me puzzled: this is a Leontyne Price voice rather than a Beverley Sills, a Tebaldi rather than a Sutherland.

She was superbly partnered by Jonas Kaufmann. Is there nothing at which this tenor does not excel? I have seen him in Puccini and Wagner; he had a triumph as Don Jose in “Carmen” last season and he has won an award for singing Richard Strauss lieder!

Hvorostovsky was a fine Germont Pere, although I was again surprised at how small his voice is. How does he cope with roles like Rigoletto, especially in the wide open spaces of the Met? All the supporting cast were very good with a special mention for Ji-Min Park as Gastone.

Maurizio Benini conducted very well, at times perhaps rather too fast: the little scene in Act II, vital to the plot, when Violetta receives the invitation from Flora was rushed through. But the orchestra played well for him, the big dramatic scenes had real bite and he supported Netrebko excellently in her quieter singing. We lost the second verses of “Ah fors e lui”, Giorgio Germont’s cabaletta and “Ah mio rimorso” but there were no unconscionable cuts.

So was this a life changing evening for me? Alas, no, but that may be because I have already experienced my ‘life-changing’ Traviata at Covent Garden. That was over thirty years ago and it was the first time that I heard Joan Sutherland. Now that really did change my life.

Lo Sposalizio - The King's Consort

The first appearance by the King's Consort at The Sage had been a thrilling performance of Monteverdi's Vespers. Could they match that on their return, particularly after their difficulties of last year? The answer is not quite, but this was still a highly enjoyable concert, conducted by their new musical director Matthew Halls.

Lo Sposalizio is an attempt to reconstruct highlights of the celebrations to mark Ascension Day as they might have occurred in Venice at the end of the sixteenth century. The events started outside with drums, fanfares and secular choral and instrumental music leading to the climax of the ceremony, the symbolic 'marriage' of Venice to the sea, the Doge casting a golden ring into the water and pronouncing the words 'Desponsamus te Mare, in signum veri perpetuique dominii' (we espouse thee O sea, as a sign of true and perpetual dominion). This was then followed by Solemn High Mass in the Church of San Nicolo.

The concert started with the lights dimmed and the single tolling bell of San Marco. The singers then entered in procession through the hall, led by four side drums. The music for the first half consisted of alternating vocal and instrumental pieces, interspersed with more drumming and fanfares, and climaxing with the gorgeous 16 part madrigal "Udite chiari et generosi figli" by Giovanni Gabrieli.

The second half started with the bell of San Nicolo and a fanfare to signal the arrival at the church of the Doge. The music from the liturgy was Giovanni Gabrieli's 12 part Kyrie and Sanctus and Andrea Gabrieli's 16 part Gloria. Other music included Monteverdi's 5 part motet "Christe adoramus te" and Tributio Massaino's remarkable "Canzon per otto tromboni" played on eight sackbuts. The Mass, and this concert, ended with the bells of Venice and more drumming.

The music of the whole concert flowed easily from one item into another. The singing and playing were of marvellous precision and verve. The instrumental ensemble included not only eleven sackbuts but also five trumpets and two Chitarrone. The voices were all men, the top lines being taken by six counter-tenors.

Three minor quibbles with the music for the Mass. I would liked to have heard some of the Mass Proper chanted, to place the elaborate polyphony in context and to provide a bit of contrast. The use of the chamber organ as a continuo in the Monteverdi motet was unnecessary and a distraction. There should have been a pause between the Sanctus and Benedictus, not only to mark that the Consecration would have taken place then, but also because the mood and style of the music show a distinct change.

But these are minor quibbles about what was a brilliant concept, superbly executed.

Blogger's Block

I am shocked to see that it is more than three months since I posted anything new on here. Part of the reason is my attendance at the Covent Garden Ring Cycle at the end of October. That was a fantastic, at times overwhelming, experience and I have not been able satisfactorily to put my thoughts about it together. Time to leave it it and return to less overwhelming fare.