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.
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.
posted by Alnwickian at 10:05 pm
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