# First thread of the Opera In-Depth Project: La Traviata



## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

If you don't know what this is about, read this thread:

http://www.talkclassical.com/14191-opera-depth-project.html

Even if you haven't signed up over there, do feel free to participate.

We need to distribute tasks.

I volunteer to do a preliminary analysis of the musical structure of La Traviata, although I won't be able to do it as well as a learned musician. But I do have things to say, and I'll welcome the input of our musician members on it, to deepen, correct, or add to what I'll say.

schicolgh has volunteered to analyze the approach that different sopranos historically took to the role of Violetta.

As a fluent speaker of Italian, I hope that mamascarlatti will have something to say about the poetry and the language in the libretto.

Didn't Il_Penseroso say that he'd like to talk about source materials? La Dame aux Camelias is up for grabs. Or wasn't Il_Penseroso? I'm getting a little confused.

I believe Aksel would address biographical aspects, but I may be mixing him up with someone else.

In any case, folks, do sign up for different tasks in order to post mini-essays on fundamental aspects of this major masterpiece.

My rudimentary (my not being a musician) analysis of the musical structure will be coming at some point between tonight and the end of this coming weekend.

Let's get to the task, folks, and let's make of Talk Classical Opera Forum a quasi-academic reference for the in-depth analysis of important operas!


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I think we should also prepare a review of the discography, I can incorporate it into my post(s) on the historical and present day Violettas.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Didn't Il_Penseroso say that he'd like to talk about source materials? La Dame aux Camelias is up for grabs. Or wasn't Il_Penseroso? I'm getting a little confused.


I volunteered for this, but if Il_Penseroso already has dibs on it than no worries


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Almaviva said:


> As a fluent speaker of Italian, I hope that mamascarlatti will have something to say about the poetry and the language in the libretto.


Sounds like a wonderful and rich project and I'll enjoy reading the results, but I've got two big study/development projects on for work already and this would be too much of the same - as I said in another thread, opera is my selfish relaxation and I don't want any more "musts" in my life.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

I'm still interested in looking at production history--that is, focusing not on singers or conductors, but on directors and designers. It may turn out that the bulk of this study will focus on the last few decades, when directors have taken more interpretive license.

I know that Alma wanted to reserve this sort of discussion for the final stage of the project. Presumably, then, my essay would be the last contribution, which is all right with me if that fits in with the overall plan.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> I believe Aksel would address biographical aspects, but I may be mixing him up with someone else.


Sure. I even have a day off work tomorrow (yay for ingrown toenail operations!), so I'll have some extra time to devote to this.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

rgz said:


> I volunteered for this, but if Il_Penseroso already has dibs on it than no worries


 No, maybe it was you. Like I said, I'm confused. But if there is more than one member addressing one aspect, the more the better, the two of them will collaborate and exchange views.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Folks, I see this as a brainstorm, chaotic creative moment.

We don't need to proceed in order. amfortas, if you want to address productions right away, feel free.
Rather than a Wikipedia-like, opera-guide like entry, I'm interested in spontaneous insights, interesting observations, in any order. Let's enjoy La Traviata and have lots of fun!


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

I hope we have a fairly liberal timeframe on this; I'll need to read through my copy of La Dame aux Camelias again and also leaf through The Idiot as there's an interesting story about the popularity of that novel in Russia.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Sounds like a wonderful and rich project and I'll enjoy reading the results, but I've got two big study/development projects on for work already and this would be too much of the same - as I said in another thread, opera is my selfish relaxation and I don't want any more "musts" in my life.


Come on, Nat, it's not any obligation. We'd just love to have your comments on the libretto. I may try, but I suspect your Italian is a lot better than mine. You know, can you tell us about some especially poetic moments in the libretto, choice of words, layers of meaning? It's for fun, honey. We need you..


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

@rgz

Sure. As much time as you want. For this project, as the name indicates, I'm interested in quality over quantity. I want to know how good and deep an analysis we can collectively produce, and good quality mini-essays need reflection and meditation.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Aksel said:


> Sure. I even have a day off work tomorrow (yay for ingrown toenail operations!), so I'll have some extra time to devote to this.


 Me too! I'm off work tomorrow and I don't even have an ingrown toenail operation!!!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Aksel said:


> Sure. I even have a day off work tomorrow (yay for ingrown toenail operations!), so I'll have some extra time to devote to this.


The excuses some people make to skive off work


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

I'm not sure what/how I might be able to add. There are fellow members who have kindly signed up to do various tasks as far as _La Traviata_ is concerned. Anything anybody might think I can do, please suggest. I would like to say though, that I have relatively broader experience with Baroque and Classical operas, and so would like to do more when we come to analyse examples from those periods. Nonetheless, I have listened to complete operas from Claudio Monteverdi to Kaija Saariaho. Glad to be part of this "club".


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Come on, Nat, it's not any obligation. We'd just love to have your comments on the libretto. I may try, but I suspect your Italian is a lot better than mine. You know, can you tell us about some especially poetic moments in the libretto, choice of words, layers of meaning? It's for fun, honey. We need you..


I will assist Mamma if you like - Italian is my second language after all (although not now so much, just for singing really) - su con la vita


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

Aksel said:


> Sure. I even have a day off work tomorrow (yay for ingrown toenail operations!), so I'll have some extra time to devote to this.


Lykke til!

I'm off tommorrow also - for the first time in ages - yay!


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Bix said:


> Lykke til!
> 
> I'm off tommorrow also - for the first time in ages - yay!


It was yesterday, actually. When I made that post, I had been operated for a few hours already. I'm taking today off, though. I can't really walk that far. Right now, the limit seems to be from my bed, up the stairs to the first floor and into the kitchen. But every little helps.

And I'll take that the "lykke til" works retroactively, so yesterday me says thanks!


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

_La Traviata_ - Musical structure

With _Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, _and _La Traviata,_Verdi began to break the mold of formula and predictability by merging recitative, aria, and ensemble. He wanted clear dramatic continuity.

During this phase, his works were characterized by:
- Reliance on human emotions and psychological insights for the essential story line
- Increasing deemphasis on Belcanto divisions in favor of continuous music
- Carefully composed and highly integrated musical entities
- The orchestra plays a much more important role than in a typical Belcanto opera
- Use of good libretti, often based on genuine Romantic literature
- He began to use the new _Parlante_ technique by which recitative-like vocal parts are accompanied by a tuneful orchestration

Lyricism is the key to Verdi's art. His melodies never lost direct and popular touch, even in this phase.

This opera is Verdi's only second attempt at setting to music a contemporary subject (_Stiffelio_ was the first one) as opposed to the grand public events and gestures, and historical figures. Verdi was accepting something more intimate (we can see a bit of this in _Luisa Miller_ as well). This unheroic, burgeois world required a new style, which can be heard in the fact that the score for _La Traviata _is more flexible and the vocal writing is more delicate than in his earlier operas.

What is extraordinary about the musical structure in _La Traviata_ is how well Verdi uses various figures in the instrumentation and vocal writing to signal the wildly shifting moods inside the characters. I will proceed by spelling out these various musical figures, and will highlight in bold font all the references to these devices.

Prelude

- The prelude *begins with a somber theme* which represents the tragedy of Violetta's illness and early death. It is a sad and elegant encapsulation of the heroine herself. *The melody is first stated by violins and cellos, then repeated by the cellos with a violin obbligato (countermelody) above it.*
- *The music is melancholic, longing*, showing her empty life and hopelessness. It makes attempts at happiness, when she tries to counteract her sadness by engaging in easy partying and drinking and the quest for pleasure. *The violin obbligato in the last third of the piece gives away this dichotomy between melancholy and gayness, but the cello background doesn't let us forget that she may seem superficially joyful, but underneath it she is sick and sad*. 
- *The Leitmotifs in the Prelude proceed in reverse order* - Verdi takes us musically from what we'll hear later in her deathbed to our first encounter with her. It is interesting to notice that while in his opera Verdi goes from the partying lifestyle to her death, in Alexandre Dumas, Fils source material La Dame aux Camelias, the story line goes in retrospect from her death to the happier times. In Verdi's prelude, he recovers the sequence found in his source material.

Act I - Scene 1

- It opens with a* lively theme, a true party music*. There is a chorus that speaks as one character throughout the opera, responding as one to the progressing action.
- Violetta hosts friends at home, and in spite of being ill, throws a party
- Violetta's second line already gives away her strategy: _Al piacere m'affido, ed io soglio con tal farmaco I mali sopir. _(I give myself to pleasure, since pleasure is the best medicine for my ills).

Brindisi…

- This philosophy is celebrated by everybody in the famous drinking song _Brindisi_: _Libiamo, ne' lieti calice, che la bellezza infiora, e la fuggevol ora, s'inebrii a voluttà _(Let's drink from the joyful glass, resplendent with beauty, drink to the spirit of pleasure, which enchants the fleeting moment).
- Violetta says that "everything in life is madness (_follia, follia!) _except for pleasure. Let us be joyful, for love is a fleeting and short-lived joy."
- In this song, in-between the joyful refrain, Violetta and Alfredo dialogue, *showing opposite views (which Verdi highlights by not letting them sing in unison)*: she says "life is only pleasure;" he, who is in love with her, replies that it is so "only for those who don't know love." Violetta underlines her loveless life, saying "speak not of love to one who knows not what it is." He adds, "such is my destiny." (_La vita è nel tripudio… quando non s'ami ancora… nol dite a chi l'ignora… è il mio destin così)_

Alfredo's declaration of love

- Skipping ahead, soon enough we get to _Un dì felice, eterea, _the moment when Alfredo declares his love at first sight for Violetta, telling her about the day when he saw her passing by for the first time. In this aria, *his halting, self-conscious phrases expand after 40 seconds into a lush melody that comes to represent their love and which reappears through the opera.* He says that his love is mysterious and noble (_misterioso, altero _-* the love Leitmotif*_) _while she replies that she offers only friendship, she cannot love, nor can she accept so heroic a love from him.

The *spinning* Parisian lifestyle

- The party ends and everybody leaves, still singing. *The music here is fast and halting, relentlessly repeating short lines like a whirlpool,* showing the exhausting pleasure-seekers' lifestyle.

Violetta's dilemma

- Alone, she muses on Alfredo's love. This begins a scene (remember, Verdi made of the scene the unit in his operas, rather than isolated arias) lasting 12 and a half minutes, a real tour de force for the solo soprano on stage, spanning four arias. 
- Violetta is lost in contemplation, her heart perhaps touched for the first time. In the first aria (_È strano) _she wonders if she could have a real love. "His words are burned upon my heart. Would a real love be a tragedy for me?" Then she starts a masterfully constructed aria (_Ah, fors' è lui _- perhaps he's the one) with *halting phrases in a minor key - which signals the fact that the moment is truly internal, of interior reflection, different from the major key arias that she was extrovertly singing up to this point* (as in all of classical music, upbeat arias are in major keys, and introspective ones in minor keys). At the end of the aria, her mood changes from introspection and *she bursts into what is musically a celebration of dawning love at the same time as the words she sings deny any such possibility.* This is a powerful scene and we can feel through the musical development Violetta's burgeoning love.

Then, a sudden change of heart

- The third aria of this set has Violetta suddenly shaking away her doubts - _Follie! Follie! Delirio vano è questo - _Folly! All is folly! This is mad delirium! - she says she is alone, abandoned in this crowded desert known as Paris, and should rather revel and die in the whirlpool of enjoyment - "_ne'vortici perir, gioir, gioir_." the word used, _gioir, _has a connotation of sexual pleasure, *especially given the way the word is underlined by a very suggestive coloratura.*

She rebels against the ties of love, and screams "Forever free!"

- In this most famous and difficult aria _Sempre libera, _*Verdi adopted the style of a *_*cabaletta*, _a word derived from the Italian for grasshoper, since the music jumps along, again symbolizing how Violetta wants to extract herself at all costs from being stopped in her compensatory quest for pleasure. In an interesting dramatic effect, Alfredo's voice is heard from the outside, declaring again his love for her - she is shaken, becomes melancholic again and says "Oh, amore" - but she will not be swayed.* She rapidly insists again on the power of enjoyment in a rapid succession of coloraturas that almost suggest a masturbatory orgasm. Her declaration of independence brings the act to a close with a stunning penultimate E-flat above a high C. *

Act 2

- The introduction to the second act has *vigorous strings, describing the joy of the young lovers* in their new life together three months later, in their apartment in Paris
- The aria _De' miei bollenti spiriti _has *energetic pizzicato (plucked) strings showing how Alfredo pours out his youthful, ardent euphoria and impetuosity*. The musical and dramatic climax of this aria comes in its last two lines. In a *soaring vocal cadenza, the tenor can portray Alfredo's rapture *at forgetting the world to live "in heaven" with his love (_io vivo quasi in ciel)_ 
- A couple of arias later, when Alfredo's father enters the scene, there is an* ominous theme* *in the low strings*. Thus begins the long confrontation between Germont and Violetta, and *the music will shift at several points *as the two negotiate their various claims

The long scene between Germont and Violetta - the pivotal moment of the opera

- In Verdi's day, duets were often lengthy musical structures that allowed for lengthy and profound dramatic interaction between characters. Generally constructed* of four contrasting movements separated by transition passages*, these duets begin with a _scena_, a short section in which characters initiate a conversation. The _scena _then segues into the following: 
- _Tempo d'attacco_ - a *fast movement *performed by one or both singers
- _Cantabile_ - a *slower, more lyrical *section than the first
- _Tempo di mezzo_ - a *short, quick* transition section
- _Cabaletta_ - *a rapid, energetic* conclusion

The changing mood in the scene comes from the fact that Germont starts by being harsh, but he softens his tone when it becomes apparent that she is not the gold-digger he had assumed he would find. Here is how Verdi does it:

- In this first movement, Germont and Violetta *have been singing "at" each other, with no real harmony of voices* or thoughts. However, after the transition into the second movement, the _cantabile_, "Ditte alla giovine - si' bella e pura," *Verdi begins to bring them slowly together*. When Germont understands the sacrifice Violetta agrees to make for his daughter (and the joy she feels at making it), *the composer recognizes this moment by allowing them to share a cadenza.* The third movement, _Tra breve ei vi fia reso_, brings them even closer as Violetta asks Germont to embrace her as if _she _were his daughter.
- The _cabaletta _is all that remains. *Note that Germont and Violetta no longer spar with different music; Verdi gives them the same melody and allows them to harmonize for they have reached an accord *- all this through one of the most psychologically rich portrayals Verdi ever composed. 
- Germont *begins lyrically* as he tries to coax Violetta into pitying the difficult position of his lovely and innocent daughter - _Pura sicomme un angelo_ 
- Violetta's phrases *become breathy* as she begins to realize the exorbitant price of Germont's request - _Ah no, giammai, no, no_ 
- *The music becomes sinister and manipulative* as Germont changes his strategy, focusing on the fickle nature of men and playing on Violetta's fear of aging - _Un dì, quando le veneri_ 
- Violetta's response is in *hushed phrases in the haunting key of E flat, suggesting someone who is physically stunned*. Germont's interjections are sympathetic yet still stern and not consoling - _Ditte alla giovine sì bella e pura_ 
-*A very quiet tone pervades* as Violetta and Germont agree that she must tell Alfredo that she doesn't love him. *The tension and emotion build up in the orchestra rather than in the vocal lines*. _Imponete_ 
- *Emotions finally burst forth as Germont tries to encourage Violetta. The music is reminiscent of people preparing for war*. They exchange sympathetic farewells. _Morrò! La mia memoria non fia ch'ei_ 
- The listener is compelled to condemn Germont for his heartless destruction of a vulnerable woman's life, while at the same time getting some understanding of what compelled him to act like this. *The ability to portray musically these conflicting emotions* is a striking example of the power and beauty of Verdi's music.

Second act, continued

- Violetta says little while writing to Alfredo, and a *plaintiff clarinet *gives voice to her sighs - _Dammi tu forza, o cielo! _
- Alfredo enters, and over an *agitated orchestration*, he questions Violetta about the letter. At the piece's climax, *we hear the expansive theme we heard in the prelude over tremolo strings*. Here, *the theme is raw emotion* and a great demand on the lyric soprano, but is crucial for the convincing expression of her love. _Che fai?_ 
- Next there is _Di Provenza il mar il suol, _one of the most outstanding baritone arias in the repertoire. The opening theme, *played by woodwinds, has a folk-like quality which describes the rural setting of Alfredo's childhood home*. 
- The aria* has the structure of music written a generation before Verdi, and therefore is appropriate to represent the point of view of the older generation*.

Structure of this superb aria

- Germont has spent the first part of Act 2 convincing Violetta to abandon his son; successful at that endeavor, he appeals to him by calling up vivid memories of their home in Provence. *Although the text is rich in imagery and certainly "paternal," it is Verdi's setting of it that makes this aria noteworthy. Verdi "lengthens" the lines by setting each as they are written but then repeating them again, this time placing the second phrase first.* For example, the aria's first line is sung as follows: 
- _Di Provence il mar, il suol-chi dal cor ti cancello? _
_ Chi dal cor ti cancello, di Provence il mar, il suol?_
- *This setting effectively makes the poetic lines sound longer. It also gives the aria a particularly "stable" or "square" sound*-each line, composed of half phrases, perfectly balances the other. Dramatically, Germont is the father who attempts to re-establish a balance in his son's life, persuading his child by repeating his arguments with the slightest of variations.

Second act, scene 2

- Let's skip the cabaletta that ends Scene 1. In scene 2, we get to Flora's house where Verdi treats us to the *same type of party music *we heard at the beginning of the opera.
- Verdi then interrupts the action with a choral ballet with gypsies, conceived as an *important relief to the dramatic tension*. Spanish matadors and picadors enter. These two choruses talk first of infidelity, then of true love. In the end, all agree that, although this story of fidelity is nice, they prefer their frivolous lifestyle.
-*Tension resumes later *as the card game begins, and *the vocal lines take on a static quality with the exception of Violetta's asides, which soar out over the texture, expressing her distress.* _Alfredo, voi!_ 
- Violetta and Alfredo confront one another over a *taut musical accompaniment which reflects his insanely jealous bravado*. _Invitato a qui seguirme_ 
- In _Ogni suo aver tal femmina, _Alfredo curses Violetta in a brief aria over a *cabaletta-style figure. The guests respond wildly, their incredulity underlined by an unresolved closing chord. *
- Germont responds in _Di sprezzo degno sé stesso rende _in *expansive fatherly phrases*, while Alfredo, realizing what he has done, responds* in halting phrases* as he tries to excuse his actions.

Second act, finale

- This large ensemble _Alfredo Alfredo di questo core_, in which everyone expresses their various thoughts at once, brings the act to a stunning conclusion.* Large ensembles are perfect for portraying the reaction of a community. *Respecting convention of 19th century opera, this ensemble doesn't advance the drama in real time, but allows us to dissect a climactic moment into its various components. Violetta begins* in a distant voice, yet is always at the center of the vocal tableau, and builds to an emotional climax while audibly affecting those around her.*
- Every member of the _demimonde_ turns on Alfredo. In communion with all of the main characters, the chorus condemns him for his shameful behavior. *Virtually every voice in the cast merges to create one of the most thrilling and dramatic ensembles in opera*.

Prelude to third act

- We hear the *same sorrowful music* we heard in the Prelude to Act I. This is followed by an *extended lament which seems to express the alternating hope and despair of Violetta's situation. *The slow, sad prelude echoes that of the first act, but the difference here is the fact that there is *nothing this time to contrast with the tragedy. The attempt to break free of the doom is no longer there, so, there is no uplifting violin pizzicato this time around.*

- Then, *the orchestra is muted and Violetta's lines are likewise quiet in the next passage, showing that she is barely alive.* _Annina? Commandate?_ 
- Next, Violetta takes a letter from her bosom and speaks the words *over a solo violin echoing the love theme from Act I *- this technique has since been abused in many movies, but remains striking in its original context here._ Teneste la promessa_

- The next important aria, _Addio del passato, _is a masterpiece of construction. Introduced by a *melancholic solo oboe*, Violetta's farewells are accompanied by *halting figures in the orchestra that call to mind her shortness of breath*. As she recalls Alfredo's love *her lines begin to soar*, and as she prays for redemption *the orchestra presses forward in the ascending harmonic progression.* *Having expended all her energies, her line descends, punctuated by isolated chords in the strings, and she ends on an unaccompanied high A.*

- After we hear revelers outside in marked contrast between Violetta's former life and her near death, *the excitement moves inside* as Annina enters. *The harmonies remain unstable - their direction uncertain* - until we hear the news of Alfredo's imminent return, and *all resolves in an optimistic major key*. _Signora_

- _Parigi, o cara _is a famous duet in which the lovers describe an idyllic future together. *The music is perfectly symmetrical and marvelously intertwined between the two lovers.* They are finally together in every sense, but it is too late for them.

A word about duets

- Librettists write duets to depict such scenes as a lovers' tryst, a meeting between friends or foes, and, in comedies, a wily servant's manipulation of a gullible master. Once composers have the duet's text, they can use a variety of musical strategies to underscore the emotion or tension in these encounters. One character generally begins the duet by "speaking" to the other who responds either alone or by joining in. If the words are considered particularly important - for example, if two characters are expressing precisely the same thought - the composer might have them join to sing in unison or in harmony. Various other dramatic possibilities exist, though. The two might alternate solo sections with the second singer either :
- - *echoing precisely what the first has performed*
- - *singing different words to the same melody*, or 
- - *performing entirely new music and text*.
- *This last strategy is generally employed if the characters are in conflict; if they cannot agree, the composer portrays that in their music - like in Alfredo and Violetta's first duet of his declaration of love, when she only offers him friendship. Here, however, it's different: Verdi wants to show their togetherness in love, therefore, it's the two former strategies that are employed.*

- *Then we hear Violetta's heart beat faster as she tries to take up her life again, but the low strings repeatedly interject short descending phrases which punctuate her failures.* _Ah, non più, a un tempio_ 
- Violetta realizes the seriousness of her condition, and *her music takes on a martial tone, as if she is rebelling against fate*. _Ma se tornando non m'hai salvato_ 
- Germont's return cheers her slightly but only briefly. _Ah Violetta! Voi, signor!_ 
- Resigned to her fate, Violetta gives her medallion to Alfredo *over a funeral march which becomes more insistent as Alfredo and his father pour out their despair*. As Violetta slips away, *the key becomes major, but it is still punctuated by the funereal figure - we hear both heaven and earth.* Over *shimmering strings, a solo violin once again announces the love theme*. It *grows in intensity *as she rallies one last time, and at the peak of her ecstasy, she falls dead and* the orchestra hurdles toward its final tragic D-Flat minor chord*. _Più a me t'appressa_

Two medical curiosities

- Why does Violetta, weak and languishing on her death bed, suddenly rallies and lets forth a powerful high B-flat? It depicts "spes phthisica" - a momentary sensation just before death when the consumptive supposedly felt as though he or she were recovering. Medically, it's the surge of adrenal hormones that often precedes death. 
- In 1853, Alfredo and Germont rush to Violetta's side with no hesitation; in 1896, in Puccini's _La Bohème _where the heroine also dies of consumption, Rodolfo expressed serious concerns to Marcello about the possibility of catching Mimì's illness. Why this different reaction? In 1882, the tuberculosis bacillus was discovered!

References

I'm not a musician, therefore I have largely based the summary above on the works of those who are learned musicians, borrowing extensively (sometimes word by word) from their insights. I don't consider myself the author of the essay above, but merely, an organizer of these various insights into a readable sequence. Here are the main sources that I have used:

- www.operamerica.com - Online learning center for members - La Traviata - Opera Insights by Jess Van Nostrand - and also: La Traviata, A Subject for the Times - online course, by Denise Gallo
- Guide to Understanding and Appreciating Opera - La Traviata, by Daniel S. Brink, Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers Ltda, New York, 2nd edition, 2005, 143 p.
- The Rough Guide to Opera, by Mathew Boyden, Penguin Books, London, 3rd edition, 2002, 735 p.
- How to Understand and Listen to Opera, The Teaching Company, CD lectures with Professor Robert Greenberg, 2001
- The Life and Operas of Verdi, The Teaching Company, CD lectures with Professor Robert Greenberg, 2003
- The New Kobbé's Opera Book, by the Earl of Harewood and Anthony Peatte, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 11th. Edition, 1997, pages 883-4.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Sounds like a wonderful and rich project and I'll enjoy reading the results, but I've got two big study/development projects on for work already and this would be too much of the same - as I said in another thread, opera is my selfish relaxation and I don't want any more "musts" in my life.


Like most women who raise a family, run a home and work full-time, what you need is a 'wife'.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

You are a good organizer, Almaviva!.

Maybe, if no one else wants to do it, I will also comment a little bit on tonality, and the structure of the drama, as well as changes and cuts in the score.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Aksel said:


> It was yesterday, actually. When I made that post, I had been operated for a few hours already. I'm taking today off, though. I can't really walk that far. Right now, the limit seems to be from my bed, up the stairs to the first floor and into the kitchen. But every little helps.
> 
> And I'll take that the "lykke til" works retroactively, so yesterday me says thanks!


Ouch that sounds painful. As long as you can click 'play' though, you should be OK.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

schigolch said:


> You are a good organizer, Almaviva!.
> 
> Maybe, if no one else wants to do it, I will also comment a little bit on tonality, and the structure of the drama, as well as changes and cuts in the score.


Yep, go right ahead, schigolch; like I said, I'd try my hand at this (based on what I've read) but would welcome the comments, corrections, clarifications, and additions from someone who understands musical structure better than I do.:tiphat:


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

sospiro said:


> Ouch that sounds painful. As long as you can click 'play' though, you should be OK.


It wasn't, actually. Four rather painful (but not overly so) shots of local anesthetic in each big toe, then a few minutes of waiting and becoming totally numb. Didn't feel a thing.

But I will be a little late in my report-writing because of recent developments in national news.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

_Fanny Salvini-Donatelli_​
Italian soprano Fanny Salvini-Donatelli was the first Violetta, singing at La Fenice, Venice, the premiere of the opera, in 1853.

It could be difficult to believe, but this first performance of _La Traviata_, was not a succes. Far from it, Verdi himself considered it "a fiasco (a big failure)".

Sometimes, we tend to consider that modern staging calls for singers to have an appropriate _physique du rôle_, beyond (or even replacing) a good operatic voice. However, this strain between looks and singing is as old as opera. Mrs. Salvini-Donatelli was almost in her forties, and her weight in kilograms was well into the three digits.

Verdi was not happy with the casting (he also had some reservations on the tenor and baritone), and he asked for a younger and better looking soprano, but to no avail. It seemed that the audience did not find Salvini-Donatelli a credible Violetta, even if her singing was highly praised by many, including Verdi himself, or Berlioz.

Wathever the reason, the second staging of _La Traviata_, with another cast, and some alterations to the score, was a tremendous succes, repeated since then in every city and every opera house in the world.

But this is part of our next post....


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sospiro said:


> Like most women who raise a family, run a home and work full-time, what you need is a 'wife'.


 See, that's why I've been advocating for poligamy. My poor wife who does like opera hasn't been able to look into it as often as I do. I'm sure that if I'm allowed to marry Anna Netrebko as a second wife and Kristine Opolais as a third wife, Mrs. Almaviva the senior wife will have a much easier time.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Aksel said:


> It wasn't, actually. Four rather painful (but not overly so) shots of local anesthetic in each big toe, then a few minutes of waiting and becoming totally numb. Didn't feel a thing.
> 
> But I will be a little late in my report-writing because of recent developments in national news.


 Feel better soon, Aksel, and yes, I've just noticed the horrible events in Oslo (bombing, shooting), I was so absorbed with this thread that I hadn't even seen the news.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Whew, I haven't seen the news either!. 

Hope things will be settled soon.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

schigolch said:


> _Fanny Salvini-Donatelli_​
> Italian soprano Fanny Salvini-Donatelli was the first Violetta, singing at La Fenice, Venice, the premiere of the opera, in 1853.
> 
> It could be difficult to believe, but this first performance of _La Traviata_, was not a succes. Far from it, Verdi himself considered it "a fiasco (a big failure)".
> ...


Yes, and Verdi tried to fire Ms. Salvini-Donatelli but unlike his usual self, he didn't start supervising the rehearsals for _La Traviata_ in Venice until 13 days before the première, due to being busy with the almost simultaneous première of _Il Trovatore _in Rome. He spent those 13 days feverishly finishing the orchestration which was still incomplete. When he got to realize the danger of having rotund Ms. Salvini-Donatelli portray an attractive young woman dying of consumption, it was too late and the contractual deadline for replacing a singer before the scheduled show had passed, so he had to put up with her.

La Fenice, March 6, 1853. The audience, polite at first, was increasingly restless as the opera progressed, and during the final act, when the fat soprano was supposed to be dying, there was laughter at each of her coughs. The tenor singing Alfredo (Lodovico Graziani) lost his voice. The baritone singing Germont (Felice Varesi) was unhappy at being a secondary character (he had been Rigoletto before) and dismissively didn't give the role any attention.

Verdi wrote the next day to a student: "Traviata last night - a fiasco. Was it my fault or the singers'? Time will tell."

Time did indeed tell... we got the answer to this one down pat.:lol:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

And he was the composer, and one of the most respected musicians of all time.

Imagine that someone will have fired, for instance, Mrs. Caballé on the grounds she was not a likely Violetta to behold. Quite the scandal...


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

schigolch said:


> And he was the composer, and one of the most respected musicians of all time.
> 
> Imagine that someone will have fired, for instance, Mrs. Caballé on the grounds she was not a likely Violetta to behold. Quite the scandal...


 Well, if Anna continues to gain weight and someone tries to fire her, it will be over my dead body!:scold:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Cuts are just part of Opera.

Of course, they are also part of _La Traviata_'s historical record of performances.

During the 19th century, those cust became fossilized and they were included in almost all of the 20th century productions.

The main cuts are:

The second half of "Ah, fors'è lui".

With those verses:

_A me fanciulla, un candido
E trepido desire
Questi effigiò dolcissimo
Signor dell'avvenire,
Quando nè cieli il raggio
Di sua beltà vedea,
E tutta me pascea
Di quel divino error.
Sentia che amore è palpito
Dell'universo intero,
Misterioso, altero,
Croce e delizia al cor!_

The reasoning behind this cut, if that there's nothing new to be heard in the second stanza and the dramatic progression of the scene is damaged by having Violetta repeat her sentiments. Also, it puts additional strain in the soprano, that is facing a very difficult scene.

We hear the complete version, sung by Natalie Dessay:






Also, the second stanza of Addio del Passato

_Le gioie, i dolori tra poco avran fine,
La tomba ai mortali di tutto è confine!
Non lagrima o fiore avrà la mia fossa,
Non croce col nome 
che copra quest'ossa!
Ah, della traviata sorridi al desio;
A lei, deh, perdona; tu accoglila, o Dio.
Or tutto finì!_

is usually cut, on the same grounds.

Personally, I don't find those arguments compelling. Verdi gives ample opportunity with the markings in the score to color the second stanza, that a gifted singer can exploit. There is also another counterargument I've read, based on the "frenchness" of the romanza form in the italian opera of the times, a kind of underscoring _La Traviata_ is, after all, a french story... Perhaps, but I think the score and the markings are enough. The only good reason for cutting this, in my view, is the real possibility of some singers not being able to stand to the additional effort.

We can hear the complete aria with Edita Gruberova:






Alfredo's cabaletta "O mio rimorso".

After praising the happiness of his life with Violetta, Alfredo is informed by Annina that Violetta is paying the bill. Alfredo... just run to Paris.

Or wait a minute. Perhaps he does something before going to Paris?. Yes, he is supposed to sing this cabaletta:

_O mio rimorso! O infamia
E vissi in tale errore?
Ma il turpe sogno a frangere
Il ver mi balenò.
Per poco in seno acquetati,
O grido dell'onore;
M'avrai securo vindice;
Quest'onta laverò._

Well, this is not the most inspired piece in _La Traviata_, but in my view it doesn't make sense to cut this cabaletta. This just contributes to portrait Alfredo as a young man with a ten years old brain, and rob us of at least one moment of grief and remorse, something resembling adulthood.

This is Alfredo Kraus, singing Alfredo Germont :






Germont's cabaletta "No, non udrai rimproveri".

_No, non udrai rimproveri;
Copriam d'oblio il passato;
L'amor che m'ha guidato,
Sa tutto perdonar.
Vieni, i tuoi cari in giubilo
Con me rivedi ancora:
A chi penò finora
Tal gioia non negar.
Un padre ed una suora
T'affretta a consolar._

This is even worse to cut, from my point of view. Imagine Germont père sung the glorious "Di Provenza" and the reaction of Alfredo is... yes, go to Paris. Come on. At least, with the cabaletta there is some interaction between Alfredo and his father, that makes the action much more fluent. Again, in purely musical terms, we are not losing a lot.

Let's hear the scene in the voices of Thomas Hampson and Rolando Villazón.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Spectacular, schigolch! I didn't know any of this, and the novelty of it for most folks once more underlines the fact that our in-depth project is sound and useful. Grazie mille!!!

@ the others: I hope you're all working on your essays, right? Let's keep the effort moving along, folks!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> @ the others: I hope you're all working on your essays, right? Let's keep the effort moving along, folks!


I'm rendered speechless with admiration of the knowledge of schigolch & the other contributors. Sorry alma but I'll very much be taking a back seat on this project & just relishing the amount of information to be learned.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

@ schigolch - somewhat unrelated, but while listening to Dessay and Gruberová I was thinking about the former's poor articulation in Italian, especially when placed side by side with Gruberová's much better delivery. The clip had still pictures and every time I find myself just *listening* to Natalie Dessay without the benefit of her superior acting skills, I realize that musically speaking she leaves a lot to be desired. Gruberová, on the other hand, although aging and less convincing as young Violetta, puts together a rather heartfelt interpretation that is goose bump-provoking. Back to the topic at hand, I find this second stanza of Addio del Passato (which like I said I didn't know before) to be a rather unfortunate cut. It really adds to the pathos. Its poetry is beautiful, even better than that of the first stanza. I mind less the cut to Ah, fors'è lui, but this cut to Addio del Passato really shouldn't happen, although I can see how the second stanza abuses the poor soprano.


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## FragendeFrau (May 30, 2011)

Just popping in to say I'm currently streaming (via Univ library, so not publicly available) the only version they had, which is Gheorghiu and Vargas. First impressions: Wow, La Scala is a tough crowd, yes? Lukewarm responses compared to what I've seen on the few other opera CDs I have. Gheorghiu has improved considerably in Act II over Act I, but then I'm always a sucker for those daddy-daughter type duets (like Walküre Act II). Vargas isn't doing a lot for me, but I'm sure he's fine. I know this goes against what opera is supposed to be about: ie, we don't care what the singers look like--but for me he has the same "baby-face" that was problematic for me with Grigolo in Rigoletto. It's just a personal thing. Onward!! Can't wait to read everything here after I've refreshed my memories.

The library does have the Domingo Stratas version that I adored when it came out, on DVD, but it remains to be seen if I can check it out, which I will, or if I have to go over and watch in the library, which I won't.

I will probably end up purchasing the recommended version since I do love this opera.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Almaviva said:


> @ schigolch - somewhat unrelated, but while listening to Dessay and Gruberová I was thinking about the former's poor articulation in Italian, especially when placed side by side with Gruberová's much better delivery. The clip had still pictures and every time I find myself just *listening* to Natalie Dessay without the benefit of her superior acting skills, I realize that musically speaking she leaves a lot to be desired. Gruberová, on the other hand, although aging and less convincing as young Violetta, puts together a rather heartfelt interpretation that is goose bump-provoking. Back to the topic at hand, I find this second stanza of Addio del Passato (which like I said I didn't know before) to be a rather unfortunate cut. It really adds to the pathos. Its poetry is beautiful, even better than that of the first stanza. I mind less the cut to Ah, fors'è lui, but this cut to Addio del Passato really shouldn't happen, although I can see how the second stanza abuses the poor soprano.


I basically agree with your comments on Dessay and Gruberova, and we will have soon the opportunity to revisit them and others historical Violettas in the coming posts.

About the cutting of the second half of both arias, I regret them, but understand it if there is a problem of stamina for a given soprano.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Violetta is one of the dream roles for a soprano.

Almost any major star sung the courtesan in one moment of her career, or another. Even some that should have stayed miles from it.

You all know the saying, you need three sopranos to proper sing Violetta. A coloratura for the first act, a lyrical for the second, and a dramatic for the third. There is a little exageration, of course, but not that much. Violetta is fiendishly difficult to sing, and of course the need for some acting (not to mention looks, sometimes) just increases the difficulty to cast the role right.

Of the literally thousands of available Violettas, I've made a small selection from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. Naturally, as I can not be exhaustive, the selection implies some sopranos made the list, and some not. This is based on personal taste, and of course any member is welcome to add a singer that I might have overlooked. Just please stick to the historical period we are reviewing in each post.

*The first Violettas on record*










*Nellie Melba*.

She was a darling for the public... though not so much admired by her colleagues. Listening to her Violetta, we can enjoy the beautiful phrasing, the clarity (the 'silvery' tone by she was so praised), the easiness of her top notes, the quality coloratura... but her lack of familiarity with the recording equipment of the time, shows in a somewhat detached performance. We have problems to find the temperamental diva that deeply moved crowds in London, in Paris, in America,... and, of course, the quality of the recording, and the way it forced the 'staccato' singing from Melba is not up to the modern taste.

_Ah, forse è lui_, 1907

_Dite Alla Giovine_, 1926, with John Brownlee. Melba is already 65 years old










*Claudia Muzio*

Arguably the greatest of all Violettas.



Frida Leider in 1959 said:


> In the first act, with her great figure, she was a beautiful and attractavie great lady. then, at the same pace the the tragedy was unfolding, she was changing. I've never hear a third act comparable to hers. It was impossible not to cry.





Eva Turner in 1967 said:


> I heard her Traviata at Theatre Colón, Buenos Aires, in 1927. Unforgettable. The best ot them all.





Rosa Ponselle in 1978 said:


> Claudia's voice was not the best one. Mine, for instance, was much more powerful, and my low tones fuller, but on stage she was not Claudia Muzio singing _La Traviata_. She was Violetta Valéry falling in love, and dying before our eyes... She was the best actress-singer of all times


We can listen to three samples of Muzio's Violetta:

This "Amami, Alfredo", recorded in 1911 with tenor Gaetano Tommasini, in Milan:

_Amami Alfredo_-Muzio-1911

"Addio del Passato", from 1918, recorded in New York.

_Addio del Passato_-Muzio-1918

Both pieces are beautifully sung, in an evanescent mood, words seemed to be floating in air. However...

However, they can't compare to this incredible "Addio del Passato", recorded in Milan, the 6th of June of 1935.






This is one of the most moving documents in the history of recording. We have never listened to such a desolate, sincere Violetta. With so deep and sober pathos. The illness of Muzio (she will die from heart failure less than one year after this recording), that was affecting her _fiato_, and also produced a vibrato difficult to control, is used in an almost supernatural manner by the artist, to melt those problems with the decadence of Violetta herself, while singer and character sink in the abyss of helplessness.

Claudia Muzio was perfectly aware that she, like Violetta, was going to die soon. Both women, facing the same predicament, are only one, during some magic minutes.



Rodolfo Celletti said:


> There is no other "Addio del Passato", that can reveal like this one, the distress of a dying and deserted woman.


.










*Luisa Tettrazini*

Unlike Melba or Muzio, Tettrazini was not a beautiful Violetta to behold. However, she enjoyed enormous success in the role. In fact, her breakout act was a Violetta in London, in 1907. A very gifted coloratura soprano, blessed also with a smooth middle register, her first act was marvelous, but she was not so highly praised about her acting, or the last act, though we will hear some very nice notes in her "Addio del Passato", complete with the two stanzas.

Again, this is not modern singing:

_Ah, forse è lui...follie!...sempre libera_ - Tetrazzini, 1912

_Addio del Passato_ - Tetrazzini, 1913










*Lucrezia Bori*.

The spanish singer, a lyric soprano, was blessed with a beautiful timbre, and was one of the darlings of the MET, especially in the role of Violetta. It is indeed an adorable voice, and a great vocal actress, regrettably her stage skills were not so considerable. We can enjoy however the imaginative phrasing, though not so convincing coloratura, while the "Addio del Passato" shows indeed a delicious phatos.

_È strano!...Ah, forsè lui... Sempre libera_ - Lucrezia Bori, 1928

_Addio del Passato_ - Lucrezia Bori, 1915










*Amelita Galli-Curci*

One of the names we always associate with Violetta, Galli-Curci was perhaps the ultimate coloratura soprano, but her top register has not recorded well, the loss of armonics is perhaps in her case worse that for other artists of the period. Curiously enough, I prefer her middle register, which was not so praised while she was active.

However, this is just my personal opinion, of course, let's listen to her Violetta so every member could make his own judgment:

_Un Di Felice_ - here with Tito Schipa (fantastic), singing the second voice Galli-Curci sounds very convincing, recorded in 1924

_Dite alla giovine_ - here with Giuseppe de Luca, 1927

_Ah, fors'è lui_ - Galli-Curci, 1919

_Sempre Libera_ - Galli-Curci, 1919. The laughter is pretty unfortunate


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

I'm afraid I may have to beg off from the essay about the literary origins. A sudden and unexpected amount of work has been assigned to me and I don't have the time to read through La Dame aux Camelias right now. Apologies.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Tis OK, rgz. Any other volunteer?

Edit - You know what? I'll volunteer myself.
I've just ordered my copy (French version) from Amazon.com, Prime shipping, it will be here by Wednesday. I'm on vacation (staycation) this week so I'll be able to do it (I hope - I do have my UWP to bring down).

But I'd like this project to gather more participation. So far just schigolch and I have contributed with mini-essays.

Come on, folks!

@rgz - Maybe I'm biting more than I can chew, since I'm also reading as we speak Clash of Kings. 
La Dame aux Camelias has 422 pages. Coincidentally, I'm almost at page 422 of Clash of Kings which has 1009 pages so it will be competing with La Dame + my UWP.

So if someone else wants to do it, feel free to volunteer. If nobody does it, then I will.

Regarding COK, I'm disappointed. I think I like the HBO series better. I don't think George R. R. Martin is such a good writer. I started by reading A Game of Thrones but soon enough I realized that the TV series is VERY faithful to the book (with some minor exceptions) so I got bored because I knew everything that was about to happen and the writing itself was nothing special, so I put it down and went directly to book 2 which contains material that I don't know. But like I said, his writing is boring anyway. The story is good, but not the author's literary skills.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

schigolch said:


> I think we should also prepare a review of the discography, I can incorporate it into my post(s) on the historical and present day Violettas.


I am happy to do the discography reviews, if schigolch is ok with that.
However, please do not deadline me 

let me know, if you guys want me to do that.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

No problem for me.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

*The first complete Traviatas (1930s)*










*Mercedes Capsir*

She was the Violetta of the first _La Traviata_ complete recording, conducted by the enigmatic Lorenzo Molajoli. Capsir's career was mainly based in Italy, though she also sung several times in London and Barcelona. Her coloratura was great, she exhibits a perfect breath control and she was a top 'Act 1 Violetta". Her lyric abandonment, however, can be questioned. As 'instrumental singing' goes, a superb performance, but the real Violetta, the young woman in love, disappears in Acts 2 and 3 (same can be said of many other Violettas, true). In fact, Capsir was a much better Gilda, than Violetta.

_È strano...Ah, fors è lui...Sempre libera_ - Mercedes Capsir, 1928

_Madamigella Valery_ - Mercedes Capsir with Carlo Galeffi, 1928

_Addio del Passato_ - Mercedes Capsir, 1928










*Rosa Ponselle*

One of the greatest singers of all time, Rosa Ponselle's most cherished operatic project was to sing Violetta. She was powerfully attracted by the dramatic weight of the role. From a purely vocal point of view, after having sung Norma's coloratura with great success, she was confident Violetta will not be a problem. Of course, she understood that her voice was larger, darker than that of sopranos like Galli-Curci or Tetrazzini, but she also thought it was ideal for the second and third act. Maestro Serafin supported Ponselle, and advised her to study the role in Italy, with Gemma Bellincioni.

Bellincioni as Violetta, in 1903

Ponselle's first Violetta was sung in London, and was a great triumph for the american soprano, with an outstanding ovation at the end of more than 30 minutes. _The Times_ considered her the best Violetta of all times.

After this, Ponselle was very confident for her Traviata debut in the MET, with Lauri-Volpi and De Luca. However, the reviews were not as good as she was expecting, with the critics on fire about transposing "Sempre Libera" a full tone down. Even her colleague (not friend) Lauri-Volpi, said:



Giacomo Lauri-Volpi said:


> Rosa's voice is like a human cello, but her B4 and her C5 are not always available, and where they are, she fights to sustain them. In Traviata, neither her first act, not her "Amami, Alfredo" are really top class. It would has been better for her never to sing Violetta, this just ruined her top notes


Ponselle, to be sure, was always a little bit unsecure about her top notes, true. Even if during her first years, they were a marvel to hear. However, trying to lighten her voice to sing Violetta the 'soprano coloratura' way, did damage her voice. However, she was the first to give Violetta her true dramatic stature, and provide a fully convincing portrait of the sick and loving woman. This is one of the best Violettas of all time.

_Ah, fors' è lui...Sempre libera_ - Ponselle, 1935

_Duet Giorgio / Violetta_ - Ponselle with Lawrence Tibbett, 1935

_Addio del passato_ - Ponselle, 1936










*Hjördis Schymberg*

The swedish soprano recorded _La Traviata_ in 1939. Her Violetta was not really very interesting, and her italian was bizarre, but we can take advantage and listen also to Björling's Alfredo (in swedish):

_Sempre Libera_ - Hjördis Schymberg, 1945

_Act 1 Duet_ - Jussi Björling & Hjördis Schymberg, 1939










*Maria Caniglia*

Caniglia's Traviata was recorded in 1939, and it's a pure italian opera performance of the times. Here, we find a true idiomatic Violetta, and a perfect legato. The lines are properly told, this is naturalistic drama at his best, though perhaps a little bit more Tosca, than Violetta. Caniglia was already a mature singer, and she is able to sing a great Violetta in her dialogue with Giorgio and as a dying woman.

_Sempre Libera_ - Caniglia, 1939

_Madamigella Valery_ - Caniglia with Mario Basiola, 1939

_Parigi, o cara_ - Caniglia with Gigli, 1939


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

schigolch said:


> No problem for me.


okie dokie  
pls note that i will only be reviewing CD's (not DVD); and only complete recordings


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I will try to complete the "racconto" of the Violettas this week, so we don't step into each other posts. And can then review the DVDs when you are finished.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

As we have discussed in a previous post, the first performance of _La Traviata_ was a little 'fiasco'. However, the second one, also in Venice, but at to Teatro San Benedetto, in 1854, was a resounding success. According to Verdi himself, the big difference was the cast:



Giuseppe Verdi said:


> the Traviata now being performed at San Benedetto is the same, the very same as was performed last year at La Fenice, with the exception of a few transpositions and a few 'puntature' which I myself made to suit it better to these singers…For the rest, not a piece has been changed, not a piece has been added or omitted, not a musical idea has been altered.


Basically, those transpositions affected to semitonal adjustments of pieces like "Dite alla giovine", (from E major to E-flat major) in the second act duet. This was in line with the tonality most often used in this second act, and really one can understands why it suited better. However, we need to be careful to attribute to Verdi a kind of tonal planning for _La Traviata_. One of the most important experts in Verdi, Julian Budden, author of the excellent _The Operas of Verdi_, a really indispensable book for anyone interested in the italian composer, flatly states:



Julian Budden said:


> The substitution of E-flat for E sheds a revealing light on Verdi's attitude to key schemes. To Wagner a difference of key in relation to the surrounding material means a difference of emotion. Verdi and the Italians were so used to adapting their music for different performers that they did not allow their ideas of music-drama to evolve on those lines…But it is in the passage following the 1854 version, that we really get the benefit of the lower key…Notice how the phrase "Qual figlia m'abbracciate" now stands out like a pearl


The other big change was in the third act, in the _tempo di mezzo_ following "Parigi, o cara", leading to the bright cabaletta in C major (in D-flat major in the original), "Grand Dio!…morir sì giovine.", introducing also chords in A-flat minor as Violetta falters, and death seems to be claiming her.

Though important, those changes are clearly not a major revision, and Verdi was absolutely right: the big difference was, indeed, the cast.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Deadline you? The deadline has already passed. It was yesterday.

Kidding, take your time.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

*The 1940s.*










*Magda Olivero*

Olivero was preparing the role with Maestro Gerussi, when Maestro Serafin called her, and explained that she was in an ideal position to give the difficult romanza that closes Act 1, its proper due. The coloratura is not an end in itself, is just a way to show Violetta's astonishment, being trapped by love for the first time in her life. "Am I crazy?, Am I crazy?"... Olivero fully understood Serafin's indications and with a voice not conventionally beautiful, with her 'vibrato stretto' trademark, but also with a sure technique, a superb phrasing and a wonderful feeling she provides a true picture of Violetta.

In her first Violettas, Olivero inserted also a high note (a D-flat 5, attacked in _pianissimo_) at the end of first romanza, not written by Verdi, that was very celebrated. However, vocal histrionics apart, perhaps her best achievements in the role are in her later years, when as a veteran soprano she was no longer able to reach that note, but her understanding of Violetta was much more deep, and she completed some memorable act 2 and act 3 performances.

_E strano...Sempre libera_ - Olivero, 1940

_E strano...Sempre libera_ - Olivero, 1964

_Madamigella Valery_ - Olivero with Aldo Protti, 1967

_Addio del passato_ - Olivero, 1956










*Eleanor Steber*

Beautiful and powerful voice, best suited to the second and third act, than to the first. We can justly praise her legato, her warm and expressive dying Violetta, her ability to colour her phrasing according to the dramatic situation (always the trademark of the true vocal actress), especially in the duet with Giorgio. She just needs a little bit more of intensity to be one of the finest Violettas in record.

_E strano_ - Steber, 1949

_Ah! Dite alla giovine_ - Steber with Robert Merrill, 1949

_Addio del Passato_ - Steber, 1949










*Bidu Sayão*

One of the MET stars between the 1930s and 1950s. Hers was not a big voice, but she always played her best cards: sweetness, expresiveness, the beauty of her timbre... But she was not a great Violetta:

_È strano!_ - Sayão, 1943

_Madamigella Valery_ - Sayão with Leonard Warren, 1943

_Finale_ - Sayão with Leonard Warren and Charles Kullmann, 1943










*Licia Albanese*

She sung more Traviatas in the MET than any other soprano, and her Violetta was very popular. To get a real Violetta, we need her hectic in Act 1, a woman in love, then rejected, in Act 2, and a tragical moribund in Act 3. However, Ms. Albanese is bumpy, instead of hectic, and she tried to convey the tragedy using sobs and melodrama, but not reaching the mark as a vocal actress.

_E strano_ - Albanese, 1946 (dress rehearsal, conducted by Arturo Toscanini

_Dite alla giovine_ - Albanese with Robert Merrill, 1946

_Finale_ - Albanese with Giacinto Prandelli and Ettore Bastianini, 1955


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

schigolch, I'm eager to see what you'll say when you get to Anna Netrebko (and Draculette too, for that matter).


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Whew, still a long journey!.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

*MARIA CALLAS*










Everything we have been saying about Violetta's voice: that she needs a coloratura in the first act, a lyric in the second, and a spinto/dramatic in the third, on top of being a good actress (and good looking, too!), and keep the verdian style without verismo tics... Is really possible to get all this in a single woman?.

It is, and we have the proof in Maria Callas.

The debut of Callas as Violetta was in Florence, in January, 1951. Later, she sung the role in Cagliari, but we have no record of those two Traviatas.

However, in July this same year, Callas sung Violetta in México, under Oliviero de Fabritiis, with Cesare Valletti and a wonderful Giuseppe Taddei as Giorgio Germont. The second act duet is memorable, though the sound quality is poor:

_Un dì, quando le veneri_ - Callas and Taddei, 1951

Callas sung five more Traviatas before the end of 1951, one with di Stefano and Gobbi, in Sao Paulo.

In 1952, Callas is again in México, singing Violetta with di Stefano and Campolonghi. The end of Act 1 is really marvelous, perhaps Callas' prodigious instrument was never better, and her agiity, the way she manages the top notes, really takes your breath away:

_É strano...Ah Fors'é lui...Sempre Libera_ - Callas, 1952

This same year, in August, she sung Traviata, just after a Gioconda!.

In January, 1953, Callas received the invitation to participate in the first 100 years of _La Traviata_, with a performance at La Fenice, alongside Francesco Albanese y Enzo Mascherini.

At last, in September, 1953, Callas records the role in studio, for CETRA. Her partners are not the best: Albanese (again), and Ugo Savarese. Santini's conducting is also rather dull. In any case, we always have Callas!:

This incomparable "Amami, Alfredo" is worth any mediocre Giorgio or Alfredo:

_Amami, Alfredo_ - Callas with Albanese and Santini, 1953

In 1954, she debuted the role in the US, in Chicago.

In 1955, there is one mythical performance. Teatro alla Scala offered a Traviata, staged by Luchino Visconti, with Callas, di Stefano and Bastianini, conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini.

There are volumes written about this production. The atmosphere in the theater was of an incredible intensity. The rehearsals were very hard, with a lot of discussions between Callas and Visconti, but with little cooperation from di Stefano, later replaced after the premiere by Giacinto Pradelli.

There is a recording of this performance, with Callas perhaps not in the incredible vocal situation of the early '50s, but offering a refined and very internalized Violetta. Giulini's conduction is also exceptional.

_Madamigella Valery_ - Callas and Bastianini, 1955

_Addio del passato_ - Callas, 1955

Next year, there was a revival of the production with Raimondi in the place of di Stefano. There is also a recording, with a sidereal Violetta... sorry, a sidereal Callas, but the character and the singer are really only one here:

_E strano_ - Callas, 1956

_Addio del passato_ - Callas, 1956

This production was enshrined in the memory of La Scala, and in 1964, some new performances were ruined (with a terrible booing to Mirella Freni and Anna Moffo) by the so called, "Callas' widows".

In 1958, Callas sung Traviata at the MET. Let's read some reviews:

[QUOTE="Winthrop Sargeant]Last week, Miss Callas returned to the Metropolitan in a more congenial role, that of Violetta in "La Traviata"-and this time, I must say, she left me in complete agreement with the most fervent of her admirers, who bellowed and thundered their approval after every aria. Taken as a whole, her interpretation of the part was far and away the finest that I have encountered at the Metropolitan or anywhere else in all the years I have been listening to opera. The high notes again wobbled very slightly now and then, but I am beginning to accept the reedy tone quality as a characteristic of Miss Callas's vocal personality; when one has become used to it, it seem to add intensity to her singing. Hers in not a pure, innocent voice (pure, innocent voices are a dime a dozen) but a fiery conveyance for female passion, and it is used with amazing skill to underline each shifting mood of this extremely subtle role. What emerges is a highly personal interpretation of Violetta, in which it is impossible to disentangle the dramatic elements from the vocal ones. I might go on to say that Miss Callas's technique, marksmanship, feeling for musical emphasis, and so on, were as impeccable as usual, but in appraising these isolated ingredients of her singing (which can be objectively compared to similar ingredients in the work of other great singers) I would be missing the real crux of the matter, which lies in the way the ingredients are combined into total dramatic projection. I might also call attention to her acting, which-in this role, at least-would quality as extraordinarily perceptive and gripping even by the standards of the legitimate stage, but the fact remains that, in her approach to the role, to act is to sing and to sing is to act. The entire interpretation, from the aria "Sempre libera," in the first act to Violetta's death, just before the final curtain, was one of those electrifying fusions of music, theatre, and personality that operagoers are only occasionally privileged to witness, and are seldom able to forge[/QUOTE]

Also in 1958, there is another legendary performance. Callas sung Traviata at Teatro São Carlos, in Lisbon, with a young and promising tenor, none other than Alfredo Kraus. This pairing of the best Violetta and the best Alfredo, was one for the ages.

Callas and Kraus in Lisbon, 1958

Our last recording is in June, 1958, from the Covent Garden. Callas is in more fragile vocal form, though her insigth of the role is as mastery as ever.

_Dite alla giovane_ - Callas with Mario Zanasi, 1958

After London, Callas sings Violetta for the last time in Dallas, in October, 1958.

This was the end of a wonderful string of performances. We can count ourselves fortunate that we have one studio and five live recordings, of the greatest Violetta we have ever known.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

schigolch said:


> There are volumes written about this production. The atmosphere in the theater was of an incredible intensity. The rehearsals were very hard, with a lot of discussions between Callas and Visconti, but with little cooperation from di Stefano, later replaced after the premiere by Giacinto Pradelli.


Yes I remember watching a documentary with interviews with Di Stefano and it was clear that he was of the old fashioned school of singers who found rehearsals a ridiculous imposition. He was going to play "his" Alfredo and what more was there to say?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

*The 1950s*










*Renata Tebaldi*

Many people don't immediately associate Violetta with Tebaldi, regardless she sung several times the role (and with some success), and there is also a DECCA recording, in 1954 (not great, other live recordings are better). Clearly, Tebaldi was always hard pressed by the first Act coloratura, that she used to transpose down. She was a better second/third Act Violetta, but with a different portrait of Violetta than Callas', she was more an experienced courtesan before her last chance to real passion, that a woman still young, and madly in love for the first time. She is also a true spinto, so perhaps not the best type of voice for Violetta,

_Follie! Sempre libera_ - Tebaldi, 1954

_Amami, Alfredo_ - Tebaldi, 1952

_Addio del passato_ - Tebaldi, 1951










*Antonietta Stella*

Her studio recording in 1956 was possible because Callas, the original choice, could not sing Violetta because of contractual problems with CETRA. Stella was a good soprano, with the bad luck of being sandwiched between Callas and Tebaldi, but she was able to get a nice career in the '50s and '60s. She is not a great Violetta. Simply, a nice one, but her style and approach are quite worthy of attention.

_Ah! Fors´e lui ...Sempre Libera_ - Stella, 1956

_Parigi, o cara_ - Stella with Giuseppe di Stefano, 1956










*Virginia Zeani*

The rumanian soprano has been one of the most active Violettas in history, with more than 600 performances of the role. Her voice was warm, dark in the low and middle register, but flexible and bright in the top notes (except the very top). She was able also to phrase with intention, and boasted a fine legato. Singing _Traviata_ she was passionate, perhaps too passionate in some pieces like "Addio del passato", but all in all, an excellent Violetta. And she had the looks, too!.

_Ah fors'e lui_ - Zeani, 1962

_Invitato...Alfredo, di questo core_ - Zeani with Bruno Prevedi, 1966

_Addio del passato_ - Zeani, 1957










*Victoria de los Angeles*

She recorded one Traviata in 1959, for EMI, with Serafin conducting. The spanish primadonna is very stressed by "Sempre Libera". On the other hand, if you listen to her in Act 2, she perfectly understands and transmits Violetta's heart rending dilemma. Of course, as always, de los Angeles offers us her precise legato, and clear diction, helped by the caring hand of Serafin.

_Ah, fors'e lui_ - de los Angeles, 1956

_Parigi, o cara_ - de los Angeles with Carlo del Monte, 1959


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

*The 1960s.*










*Joan Sutherland*

Violetta was one the preferred roles for Joan Sutherland, that in the first act, of course, was perfectly at home. She was also one to push for the complete score to be sung, but adding the 'traditional' not written top notes in "Sempre libera" or "O mio rimorso". Her recording in the sixties is a very good one. Apart from a wonderful Act 1, she is convincingly sad, but defiant, in Act 2, though Violetta's dying moments in Act 3 are missing some drama. Her italian diction could be clearer, yes, but who cares listening to this vocal genius singing that high E-flat!.

_Sempre libera_ - Sutherland, 1965

_Dite alla giovine_ - Sutherland with Robert Merril, 1963

_Addio del passato_ - Sutherland, 1960










*Anna Moffo*

Perhaps the loveliest soprano ever, Anna Moffo was also a gifted singer, and a good actress. She has a quite good italian diction, and an exquisite timbre. It was impossible not to love her while impersonating Violetta, however... her voice was rather small, and sometimes could have problems to project it and fill the theater, while her expressive coloring was limited. For all the sweetness of the voice, when strained, she can produce also some ugly sounds. Not one of the best Violettas, but a nice Violetta nonetheless.

Let's select videos, rather than audios for this one. 

_Un di felice_ - Moffo with Nicolai Gedda, 1962

_Sempre Libera_ - Moffo, 1967

_Gran dio morir si giovine_ - Moffo with Franco Bonisolli, 1968










*Renata Scotto*

Always an exciting artist to watch, Violetta was one of the best roles of Renata Scotto. She kept the role in her repertoire for almost two decades, and her insigths are rightly celebrated. Not everyone will love her voice: sometimes the tone hardens very noticeably, sometimes the notes, instead of written in the pentagram, seem to be immersed in probability clouds, sometimes she visibly strains... but is a great portrait nonetheless. She really sings with meaning, we are provided with a small window into the soul of Violetta Valery, and this is a priceless gift for every lover of opera.

_E strano... Ah, fors'è lui... Sempre libera_ - Scotto, 1962

_Addio del passato_ - Scotto, 1973

_Parigi o cara_ - Scotto, con Josep Carreras










*Mirella Freni*

The first public appearance of Mirella Freni, at ten years old, was singing "Sempre Libera", she was very fond of this piece, and of Violetta's role. Unfortunately, it was also one of her greatest disappointments, when she collected a tremendous booing at La Scala, in 1964. Of course, this was not fair. Ms Freni is incapable of bad singing, though, clearly enough, she was no Maria Callas... but, who was?. Her limpid tone, her musical phrasing, her immaculate legato are as present as usual, only in this case they are not enough. They cannot replace the sense that a real depth of characterization is missing.

_Sempre Libera_ - Freni, 1973

_Addio del passato_ - Freni, 1973

_Finale_ - Freni with Luciano Pavarotti, 1965










*Montserrat Caballé*

Talented enough to sing Violetta, and almost any soprano role in the repertoire, Caballé sung Violetta several times during ten years, until the mid seventies. Also, in her recording with Prêtre she refused to sing the traditional, not written, high notes, without fearing criticism. Let's listen to Caballé's opinion: "I've sung a very beautiful Traviata in my first years, but I realized that suddenly I was not able to sing the Violetta I've in my mind. When this happen, you need to retire the role. I can still feel Violetta, interpret Violetta... but no longer sing Violetta". Well, Caballé's Violetta was beautiful enough, though not the greatest of characterization from a dramatic point of view. Also, in spite of her incredible vocal assets, her 'physique du rol' was not the best one for the young courtesan.

_Libiamo, ne lieti calici_ - Caballé with Josep Carreras, 1973

_Ah, fors' è lui... Sempre libera_ - Caballé, 1967

_Addio del passato_ - Caballé, 1967

As you can all imagine, there are many more sopranos apart from this little selection, that I try to keep manageable. However, from those years, I must stand out other three great sopranos, of no less distinction than the ones above: Rosanna Carteri, Leyla Gencer and Pilar Lorengar.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Great job as usual, schigolch.
I got my _La Dame aux Camélias_, great edition, containing both the novel and the play (it's the play that was seen by Verdi), plus some extended essays and footnotes. 
But I can't promise any delivery of my essay anytime soon. My staycation is almost over... and I haven't even brought down my unwatched pile as much as I wanted. Back to work next week I'll have lots of accumulated tasks and will be pretty busy. Sigh...

Edit - Wow, I've spent the last 75 minutes browsing the essays, there is so much information!!! I have learned already a lot that I didn't know about the source material - info of all sorts, from trivia (characters cry 87 times in the novel) to historical facts on the life of Alphonsine Plessis a.k.a. Marie Duplessis who was Alexandre Dumas Fils' mistress who inspired the character, to Dumas' relationship with his famous father (and the fact that Alexandre Dumas Père never forbid his romance with Duplessis, much the opposite, the young courtesan almost got both men into her bed! - fortunately the father refused). There are two essays by Dumas Fils himself; in one of them he describes physically the young lady. Certain aspects of the first version of the novel that were too crude (such as saying that she had a very nice cloaca were taken away in the second version - which is the version in my book - and further expunged in the third version - which is considered too distant from the original). There are essays on the Parisian Demi-Monde, and complete performance history of the play (Sarah Bernhardt), the opera, and cinematographic versions (Greta Garbo), up to 1993 (Oh well, if they had continued, they could have included Anna Netrebko, pity...).

Other than the light/scandalous material above, the edition does include some insightful and serious essays on the two literary texts, and some excerpts of the libretto (including an analysis of the differences between the three texts). They don't talk a lot about Verdi, though... I'd like to know more about his reaction to the play when he watched it, etc. I guess I'll have to look for this information elsewhere.

It will be fascinating reading...


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

Folks, I have not forgotten the recording reviews; and hope to begin work on them this weekend


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

*The 1970s*










*Beverly Sills*

Sills was already singing Traviata touring America very young, in the 1950s. But it's not until almost twenty years later that she is recognized as a leading Violetta, especially in Italy, where a performance with Alfredo Kraus in Naples, was a big success. Her studio recording in 1970, is also interesting. It's clear Sills voice was not Violetta's, however. Her coloratura is precise, spectacular and sober at the same time, but regrettably Traviata is not over after "Sempre Libera".

_E' strano! è strano_ - Sills, 1972

_Madamigella Valery_ - Sills with Ettore Bastianini, 1955

Sills with Alfredo Kraus in Naples, 1974










*Ileana Cotubras*

With Cotubras we are facing again a soprano whose voice was not ideal for the role, and also her peculiar timbre was a little bit off the mark, so she had to rely on her acting skills often to hide these facts. Very succesfully in some passages, not so convincingly in others. However, her recording with Kleiber was hailed by some as a great addition to the Traviata lore, using her charm, her spontaneity she offers a lively portrayal of Violetta.

_Follie, follie.. Sempre libera_ - Cotubras, 1977

_Finale Second Act_ - Cotrubas with Placido Domingo and Cornell MacNeil - 1983

_Addio del passato_ - Cotrubas, 1983










*Sylvia Sass*

When, still very young, she started her singing career, her vocal talent, her acting ability, were compared to those of Maria Callas. Regrettably, there was not a second Callas (neither her, nor Aliberti, nor Suliotis,...) but only the first Sass, and not for a long time, either, as her voice was soon declining. However, she had time to sung some beautiful Violettas, like the one linked below.

_Sempre libera_ - Sass, 1976

_Dite alla giovine_ - Sass with Yuri Mazurok, 1976

_Addio del passato_ - Sass, 1976


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

BalloinMaschera said:


> Folks, I have not forgotten the recording reviews; and hope to begin work on them this weekend


If you can wait until Monday to start, I will have completed (I hope) the Violetta's review and we will not get into each other's posts.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

schigolch said:


> If you can wait until Monday to start, I will have completed (I hope) the Violetta's review and we will not get into each other's posts.


I'd be able to rearrange the order (although it *is* a bit complicated).
I'm planning to do a thorough clean-up of this thread once we finish, to remove all chat and just keep the core essays, so that it can be easily consulted as a reference source for in-depth studies of La Traviata, its source material, performers, recordings, etc.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

*The 1980s*.










*Teresa Stratas*

Violetta is a role that, like few others, requires from the singer a very hard to attain combination of vocal beauty and a rare expressive intensity balancing apparent strength with evident vulnerability. Ms. Stratas was really fantastic on the expressive area. You can watch at her and feel you were watching Violetta herself. Regrettably, if you close your eyes and just listen, Violetta suddenly shrinks and is at times on the verge of complete obliteration.

_Un di felice eterea_ - Stratas with Fritz Wunderlich, 1965

_Amami, Alfredo_ - Stratas with Placido Domingo, 1982

_Addio del passato_ - Stratas, 1982










*Edita Gruberova*

Almost like a mirror image of Ms. Stratas, Edita Gruberova was (still is) a peerless vocalist, but her Violetta was missing some depth in the expressive area. Her first act, with an incredible "Sempre Libera" is fantastic, nonetheless, one of the greatest ever. She dropped the role just last year, in 2010, and was the first Violetta of these series that I was able to watch on stage, at Liceu in 1986. You all know that the recorded Gruberova has never been up to the stage artist. In the theater, she grows, and grows a lot. The impact of her voice that seems to be singing just there, floating on air, besides you, even if you are in the fifth floor of a large house, is unforgettable.

_Sempre Libera_ - Gruberova, 1982

_Amami, Alfredo_ - Gruberova, with Neil Shicoff, 1992

_Finale_ - Gruberova with Neil Shicoff and Giorgio Zancanaro, 1992










*Lucia Aliberti*

Another Callas 'clone', but also a fine artist in her own merits. During some years (admittedly, too few), she was also an exciting singer to watch. Her Violetta won't be remembered as one of the best, true, but is much better than her black legend will have us to believe.

_Un di felice_ - Aliberti with Peter Dvorsky, 1989

_E strano...Sempre libera_ - Aliberti, 1989

_Madamigella Valery_ - Aliberti with Renato Bruson, 1989


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

*The 1990s.*










*Cheryl Studer*

During those years, opera CDs are gradually dying and giving birth to opera in DVD. Previously, of course, there was also opera recorded in VHS or Betamax, but it was always far of the penetration reached by DVD format. Studer's CD recording with Pavarotti and Pons, was one of the last. Ms. Studer is an underrated Violetta. Her voice was warm and flexible, and her first act is perhaps not the best, but it's far from the worst. However, the best part starts in her second scene of Act 2, (the first is missing drama, though not by any fault of the soprano), and above all in the finale, with an elegant, simple, but eloquent singing.

_Libiamo_ - Studer with Luciano Pavarotti, 1991

_Addio del passato_ - Studer, 1991

_Parigi, o cara_ - Studer with Luciano Pavarotti, 1991










*Kiri Te Kanawa*

Dame Kiri recorded the role in 1993, with no other than the legendary Alfredo Kraus. However, by that date both singers were more legend, than current value. Ms. Te Kanawa's temper was never suited to sing Violetta, and she just go along with the leaden conducting trying to hit the notes, and reach the end of the opera. There is a small ray of light in a nicely phrased "Addio del passato", but it's too little, too late.

_Folie! Sempre libera_ - Kanawa, 1986

_Amami, Alfredo_ - Kanawa with Alfredo Kraus, 1993

_Addio del passato_ - Kanawa, 1993










*Mariella Devia*

Perhaps the best singer of her generation, Devia (still in singing form, and with great success) is most closely associated to bel canto roles, where she has given us some marvels like her Lucia or her Elvira or her Amenaide. However, she is also a very good Violetta. Because of the limitations of her instrument, and a lack of full adecuation to Verdi's dramatic requirements, not a great Violetta. But with Ms. Devia you know she will always give you back something for your money. She has never sang a bad performance.

_Sempre Libera_ - Devia, 1999

_Addio del passato_ - Devia, 1989

_Parigi o Cara_ - Devia with Giuseppe Filianoti, 2006










*Angela Gheorghiu*

Not yet thirty, Ms. Gheorghiu was able to sing a superb Violetta at Covent Garden, in 1994. I remember one phone call from a friend that was in London at the time, after one of the performances, telling me I've to go there to listen to one of the greatest Violettas ever. Unfortunately, I was not able to travel to London then, though of course I've watched later the DVD, and listen to Ms. Gheorghiu's Violetta on stage. My best Violetta on stage.

The magic about those London performances was the sheer intensity with which the young courtesan was portrayed by the young singer. Of course, Ms. Gheorghiu's voice was (is) lovely, and her looks were just about ideal for the role, but the way she was able to dye Violetta's words with tragic pain was one for the ages. Regrettably, and strangely enough, as usually the singers are able to understand better the role when they get older, she has never been able to sing again with this passion, with this commitment... Well, We'll Always Have London.

_Un di felice_ - Gheorghiu with Frank Lopardo, 1994

_E'strano!_ - Gheorghiu, 1994

_Amami Alfredo_ - Gheorghiu with Jonas Kaufmann, 2006

_Addio del passato_ - Gheorghiu, 1994


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

*The 21st century*

In this last post of the list of Violettas, we will review briefly some of the more requested Violettas, now singing the role.










*Inva Mula*

She is a good Violetta, and very nice looking too. Better for second and third Act.

_Brindisi_ - Mula with Piotr Beczala, 2005

_Addio del Passato_ - Mula, 2009










*Anna Netrebko*

The best Violetta of her generation.

_Sempre Libera_ - Netrebko, 2005

_Dite alla giovane_ - Netrebko with Thomas Hampson, 2005

_Addio del passato_ - Netrebko, 2005










*Elena Mosuc*

This romanian soprano don't quite has the looks, but she do has the voice.

_E' strano...Sempre libera_ - Mosuc, 2005

_Addio del passato_ - Mosuc, 2005










*Irina Lungu*

This romanian (from Moldavia) soprano has the looks and the voice.

_Brindisi_ - Lungu with Michael Fabiano, 2010

_Un di felice_ - Lungu with James Valenti, 2007










*Renée Fleming*

I love you, Renée, but it was too late.

_Sempre Libera_ - Fleming, 2006

_Addio del Passato_ - Fleming, 2006










*Patrizia Ciofi*

A wonderful artist. Wish she would be blessed with the instrument of other sopranos...

_Libiam ne' lieti calici..._ - Ciofi with Vittorio Grigolo, 2009

_Dite alla giovane_ - Ciofi with Marzio Giossi, 2009


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

I love you schigolch for calling my Anna the best one of her generation. I couldn't agree more, way to call it, hear hear Draculette's fans, Anna is the best!:cheers:

I think you missed one for the 21st century, great eye-candy (vocally not as good): Eteri Gvazava, who was in the recent filmed version La Traviata in Paris with Zubin Mehta.




























This YouTube clip of appallingly bad quality including the sound doubling over itself in some weird reverberation effect (it's not a vibrato, it's a defect in the recording), and horrible image quality is the only one I could find, she definitely doesn't sound as awful in the real thing, and the image is filmed from the YouTube users' TV. But it gives you an idea of the eye candy factor. Sorry for the sound, just turn it off. I have the DVD and although not the best vocal Violetta she is not *that* bad. Oh, now I have figured it out, here is what happened: the user has used the first setting of fast-forwarding, the one that in modern players allows the sound to still come through, but accelerated, which made the treble go overboard. Like I said, just watch it for the eye-candy factor with the sound off (it's painful).


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but by "her generation" I meant sopranos who has started to sing Violetta in the 21st century. In the role, I prefer Ms. Gheorghiu's approach, because she was capable of rising to heights of expression that Ms. Netrebko has not been able, so far, to reach.

About Gvazava, it's ok to add. I just mentioned the ones that were more remarkable to me.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

schigolch said:


> I prefer Ms. Gheorghiu's approach, because she was capable of rising to heights of expression that Ms. Netrebko has not been able, so far, to reach.


N-Trebs has retired the role, so I don't think she'll be rising to the heights of Draculette in this role ever.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Grrrrr now I hate you guys!


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Grrrrr now I hate you guys!


We love you too, Alma. *blows kisses*


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Aksel said:


> N-Trebs has retired the role, so I don't think she'll be rising to the heights of Draculette in this role ever.


Sorry but that is actually incorrect as she is playing the role at the Royal Opera House in Jan 2011. 
Also see link from Intermezzo blog below. She has been kicked out of Salzburg!

http://intermezzo.typepad.com/intermezzo/2011/07/netrebko-and-schrott-hurt-to-be-ditched-from-salzburg-festival.html


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

jflatter said:


> Sorry but that is actually incorrect as she is playing the role at the Royal Opera House in Jan 2011.
> Also see link from Intermezzo blog below. She has been kicked out of Salzburg!
> 
> http://intermezzo.typepad.com/intermezzo/2011/07/netrebko-and-schrott-hurt-to-be-ditched-from-salzburg-festival.html


Oh, OK. I read somewhere (Parterre I think) that she had. But is she thinking to do Wagner? Now _that_ would be interesting. I wonder if she has the diction for it.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Aksel said:


> Oh, OK. I read somewhere (Parterre I think) that she had. But is she thinking to do Wagner? Now _that_ would be interesting. I wonder if she has the diction for it.


The Elsa rumour has been around for sometime. There was even a rumour that she failed a Bayreuth audition for the new production that Kaufmann started last year. Her voice has certainly darkened over the past two or three years.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

jflatter said:


> The Elsa rumour has been around for sometime. There was even a rumour that she failed a Bayreuth audition for the new production that Kaufmann started last year. Her voice has certainly darkened over the past two or three years.


Interesting. Sure, her voice has become larger and fuller in the last few years but I really can't see her doing Wagner. Her voice is so Italianate. Has she even done any opera in German, except that aria from Giuditta?


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

jflatter said:


> Sorry but that is actually incorrect as she is playing the role at the Royal Opera House in Jan 2011.
> Also see link from Intermezzo blog below. She has been kicked out of Salzburg!
> 
> http://intermezzo.typepad.com/inter...urt-to-be-ditched-from-salzburg-festival.html


Do you mean 2011 or 2012?


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## FragendeFrau (May 30, 2011)

Alma, she is singing Mimi in La Boheme next year in Salzburg, but nothing is booked after that. Erwin Schrott said he is not on the schedule in Salzburg next year, or anything after. The new director (or whatever he's called) Pereira has no place for him. However, he goes on to say that plans (at least for the Wiener Staatsoper) are made 5 years in advance, so I'm not sure how that affects Salzburg.

Pereira was the director at Zürich, hence the strong rumors already that Kaufmann will be in Salzburg in the next couple of years, as the idea is he will bring in many of his former singers from there.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Here is her schedule from the official site



August 6, 2011
Vienna, Austria
Stadthalle Concert with bass-baritone Erwin Schrott and tenor Jonas Kaufmann


August 15, 20, 2011
Salzburg, Austria
Salzburg Festival Tchaikovsky: Iolanta


August 16, 2011
Berlin, Germany
Waldbühne Concert with bass-baritone Erwin Schrott and tenor Jonas Kaufmann


September 26, 30
October 6, 10, 15*, 18, 2011
New York, U.S.A.
Metropolitan Opera Donizetti: Anna Bolena 
*The Met: Live in HD transmission to movie theaters


October 26, 2011
New York, U.S.A.
Carnegie Hall  Concert with Elena Bashkirova


December 7*, 13, 16, 20, 23, 28 2011
Milan, Italy
Teatro alla Scala Mozart: Don Giovanni (Donna Anna) 
*Live in HD transmission to movie theaters


January 6, 2012
Hannover, Germany
Kuppelsaal Concert with Erwin Schrott


January 9, 2012
Mannheim, Germany
Rosengarten Mozartsaal Concert Erwin Schrott


January 17, 20 
London, U.K.
Royal Opera House  Verdi: La traviata


January 26, 2012
Stuttgart, Germany
Liederhalle Beethovensaal Concert with Erwin Schrott


February 1, 4, 2012
New York, U.S.A.
Metropolitan Opera Donizetti: Anna Bolena


March 26, 31 
April 3, 7, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 2012
New York, U.S.A.
Metropolitan Opera Massenet: Manon


May 6, 2012
Vienna, Austria
The Musikverein Concert with Daniel Barenboim


May 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 2012
Munich, Germany
Bavarian State Opera Bellini: I Capuleti e I Montecchi (Giulietta)


June 2, 2012
Münster, Germany
Schlossplatz Concert with Erwin Schrott


June 16, 2012
Hamburg, Germany
Derby Park Concert with Erwin Schrott


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

Dear All... here are the first of the *Traviata recording reviews*. I will attempt to review in chronological order. However, keep in mind that I am only able to review recordings that I either own myself or have heard in full. That said, I probably own at least 30, which is why I will attempt to be brief. Reviews are reviews, so you do not have to agree with mine, nor are they the gospel. In my overall rating, I am not taking into account the sound quality (Mono, Stereo, DDD, etc). If I don't love your favorite recording, it doesn't mean that I hate you. I hope you enjoy the reviews! 

*1928- Molajoli- Milan Symphony & Teatro Alla Scala Chorus
VV: Mercedes Caspir / AG: Lionello Cecil / GG: Carlo Galeffi*

Maestro & Orchestra: Molajoli is, oddly, a conductor, who - it seems- conducted more in the studio than in the opera house. He was a favourite of Columbia Records in the 20/30s. His tempos are generally vivid (sometimes too much so). He doesn't quite seem to allow the music to breathe its impending drama/tragedy. Not surprisingly, he observes the traditional stage cuts. The orchestra (a now defunct band, or was it a pick-up band for the recording?) sounds tired (or bored?), at times.

Caspir: Caspir's performance is good, while not setting the bar very high for future Violettas. The voice is reasonably attractive. However, she at times sounds self-conscious about being recorded. Majoli's fast paces don't always help her, either. She tries hard to imbue some tragedy, but the lyricism of her voice is not quite large enough to accommodate gravitas, and she fails to move.

Cecil: This Alfredo sounds decidedly tentative. Coupled with a persistent tremolo, he sounds secondary, most of the time. He does try hard, though.

Galeffi: Galeffi sounds positively glamorous in these surroundings. The voice is large, has almost perfect Verdian legato in its arsenal, and he alone is able to characterize his role through the voice. A commendable performance.

Honorable Mention: Salvatore Baccaloni as Dr Grenvil

Overall:C+

This was originally and EMI recording (I believe), and is now available on Naxos Historical.

*1930- Carlo Sabajno- Chorus & Orchestra of Milan alla Scala
VV: Anna Rosza / AG: Alessandro Ziliani / GG: Luigi Borgonovo*

Maestro & Orchestra: Much like Molajoli, Sabajno does not allow the music to expand. The tempi are fretful, at times. The orchestra does sound like a real opera band though, and the alla Scala forces deliver the dramatic moments with gusto. He was HMV's conductor of choice in the 30's, for the Italian rep.

Rosza: This is an accomplished performance by the Hungarian soprano (especially since she had in 1930, not yet sang the part on stage). Her Violetta wants to live, but knows she probably won't; the yearning is palpable. The voice is capable of subtleties that add character, but also up to the grander moments (like her farewell to Alfredo Act II). Her act III is tragic, and has some lovely floated tones.

Ziliani: For all his vocal qualitites, at Rosza's side, Ziliani fails to inject the needed romance into her tragic circumstances. The voice is by no means unattractive, but at times he seems petulant. At least it's an appropriately Italian sounding voice.

Borgonovo: This is a suave performance from a stalwart of the golden age of opera. His confrontation with Violetta is heartfelt. His instrument is expressive and capable of the Verdian lines (sadly only the first verse of his aria is heard).

Overall: C+/B-

The recording is available on Opera d'Oro or VAI


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1935- Panizza- MET Chorus & Orchestra
VV: Rosa Ponselle/ AG: Frederick Jagel / GG: Lawrence Tibbett*

Maestro & Orchestra: Panizza was a protégé of Toscanini's and it shows. His conducting is never trivial, always serving the drama, and his tempi are well chosen. The MET orchestra works well under his tight direction, and sounds both involved and (mostly) accurate.

Ponselle: Her Violetta is a triumph. This is a courtesan with a heart and glorious lungs to support her on her journey. She transposes the first act aria, but no matter; her singing is vibrant and generous, but has an innate delicacy that is hard to ignore. Her passionate rendition of the Alfredo farewell ("Amami, Alfredo") is gut wrenching. While there is considerable detail to her characterization, it never seems contrived. Fantastic.

Jagel: He generally delivers an adequate Alfredo. There are not quite enough vocal color shifts in his performance, for the character to spring to life. While a bit if a wall-flower Alfredo, he does however, muster enough vocal resources to deliver an impassioned gambling scene denunciation.

Tibbett: His daddy-Germont is magical in the long scene with Ponselle. The voice convinces with authority coupled with immaculate technique and appropriate sentimentality. He relishes the Verdian vocal lines and his portamenti and rubati are perfectly proportioned. A Germont for the ages.

Overall: B++

The recording is available from the Naxos Historical Immortal Performances series.

*1939- Gui- LPO & LPC
VV: Maria Caniglia/ AG: Beniamino Gigli / GG: Mario Basiola*

Maestro & Orchestra: Gui compels the LPO forces (never the most operatic of bands) to a solid performance. They seem to follow the singers, rather than him, though- at times. Perhaps he encouraged this; it's hard to tell.

Caniglia: Her rendition is for the most part, as expected quite grand, but she does not sound as matronly as one might expect. The sound is decidedly veristic though, admittedly in an endearing voluptuous way. That said, some of the singing is glorious, and she asserts herself as a Violetta that your ears want to follow.

Gigli: Characterization matters less, when the singing is as glorious and honeyed as Gigli's. He does not seek to upstage though, and his Alfredo remains at Caniglia's service, which endears his ardent performance even more. Interestingly, at times he sounds (albeit in Italian) like the ideal Lohengrin.

Mario Basiola: Basiola, while not matching the tenor and soprano in terms of vocal splendor, contributes some fine singing, and appropriately contained paternal sounds. His grief/guilt in the last act has real "sunken head, in hands" authenticity.

Overall: B+

The recording has been re-released a few times, and (I think) is available on the Minerva label.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1946- Toscanini- NBC Orchestra & Chorus*

*VV: Licia Albanese / AG: Jan Peerce/ GG: Robert Merrill*

Maestro & Orchestra: Toscanini demonstrates here how complete his grasp is of the score. By 1946, he had been conducting Traviata for 6 decades. He recorded seven complete operas with the NBC Orchestra and he elicits some lovely sounds from them. He allows for tension and respite in all the right places. One immediately gets a sense of the trust that both players and the singers have in his ever detail demanding baton. From time to time, you can hear maestro humming along.

Albanese: She responds well to Toscanini and delivers a superb heroine. Her Violetta is impassioned, sincere, and frenzied (as Violetta should at times be), but does so with a graceful intensity that her propels her predicament forward (as Verdi must have intended). Albanese reminds us that Violetta is sickly from the start; her rendition will often strike the listener's ears as febrile. Her characterization calls for a good amount of old-school histrionics, but she pulls it off, coupled with some beautiful singing.

Peerce: His sound is quite muscular here, perhaps more of a Ballo Gustavo than a Parisian demi-monde courtier turned sophisticated country bumpkin. It's an exciting enough sound, but there are few pianos, let alone pianissimi. The passion he feels for Violetta does not sound much different than his insolence toward his father.

Merrill: Merrill hits all the notes and his expansive voice fills out the music, but he doesn't quite convince as an imposing father-figure. By enlarge, he sounds quite unaffected by the strange turn of events in his son's life. Perhaps he was too young at the time of the recording; I am pretty sure his characterization gained depth in later years. 
Honorable Mention: Maxine Stellman's Flora

Overall: B+

*1946- Bellezza- Orchestra & Orchestra Opera di Roma
VV: Adriana Guierrini / AG: Luigi Infantino/ GG: Paolo Silveri*

Maestro & Orchestra: Belezza's conducting here is reliable rather than particular revealing. I am sure more of a vision would have led the Rome opera forces to deliver a more memorable performance.

Guerrini: Guerrini was a favourite of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. Her Violetta has its moments of beauty and largesse, but much of it sounds like a Tosca lost in Paris. Some of the singing is actually on the grating-side of the aural spectrum, and the conversational passages of the party scenes elude her. That said, her act III has a reasonable amount of poignancy, without offering any special insight.

Infantino: His performance has vast amounts of charm; this Alfredo is clearly in love. The voice is light but not always light-footed, and he is able to deliver the more dramatic moments with panache. He can sound a bit sheepish here and there, it could be argued that this is compatible with Alfredo's character (and not surprising opposite Guerrini's towering Violetta). At the end of Act II he sounds particularly (and appropriately) distraught. The duets are delivered with beautiful lyricism and rich texture; he also articulates and shades very well. He makes an excellent Alfredo.

Silveri: While his top notes ring out impressively in the long duet, and his rendition has its touching moments, in the course of the entire opera , his Germont does not quite have enough detail to remind us that the father, too- has an emotional voyage to travel. Even the scolding of his son at Flora's party is delivered quite squarely. The voice is attractive though, and Silveri had the goods, so I am tempted to lay part of the blame at maestro's feet.

Overall: B (it would have been a C, had we not had Infantino's contribution)


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1952- Berrettoni- Orchestra & Chorus of Rome Opera House (I believe!)
VV: Rosetta Noli / AG: Giuseppe Campora / GG: Carlo Tagliabue*

Maestro & Orchestra- Berrettoni was a regular at Milan; purely on the basis of this recording, one has to wonder why. The orchestra sounds quite uneven and its performance is decidedly provincial. It's almost like every other player was having a bad day.

Noli: The voice is not in a bad state, here. She shapes effectively for the most part, and can be quite spirited. At times, she sounds more like a Gilda, probably because the vocalizations are lightweight; she plays the "poor, poor Violetta" card throughout, and it becomes tiresome. Because there is not quite enough resolution in her portrayal, the sense that the story occurs because a number of (mostly poor) decisions that Violetta makes, is nowhere to be found.

Campora: His portrayal is a success. The voice is radiant and warm, with enough technique to pull off reflective moments well. While there are no surprises to his Alfredo, he sounds pleasant and youthful throughout. He can come across a bit Pinkerton like- "I'm here; I think I'm in love, I'm going to give this woman a good sing-song, and see how she takes it."

Tagliabue- In 1952, he was 56, which I suppose is just about the right age to be singing Germont. His vocalizations are stylish, with a big approach. His portrayal, while grand, does not have much sentiment though, and his characterization remains half-hearted. His aria does not quite conjure up the nostalgia, as it should.

Overall: a generous B

The recording is a Preiser re-pressing.

*1953- Santini- Orchestra & Chorus of Turin RAI
VV: Maria Callas / AG: Francesco Albanese / GG: Ugo Savarese*

Maestro & Orchestra: Santini has left us with better recordings (mostly EMI) than this one. The RAI orchestra sounds mostly uninspired and lack-lustre. There is a jaggedness to the playing that distorts the continuity of the plot.

Callas: In her only studio recording of this opera, she does not disappoint. Her commitment to giving each syllable appropriate weight is astonishing. While the characterization is obviously a studied one, it comes across as spontaneous. Her Violetta is also a study in misunderstood inwardness that contrasts with the showy outbursts that Verdi gives the character. She manages to lend the heroine what can only be described as almost Wagnerian torment. The intimacy she gives us in the final act is priceless. It's an extraordinary portrayal. She is also in excellent vocal shape, and in complete command of her instrument, save for a few coarse notes. Indeed, in 1953 Callas had also not yet lost all the weight that contributed to the periodic thinning of her tone in later recordings.

Albanese: Considering that Albanese excelled in upbeat belcanto parts (Almaviva, Ramiro Nemorino) , one would think that his portrayal would be more vivid and spirited than what he actually delivers. Perhaps his voice did simply not record well, it's a pretty dull sound, at times. Considering that he actually sang the part opposite Callas in Rome, one would think that he would be more emotionally responsive to her. The voice, however is reasonably attractive; it just sounds a bit like he's in a Verdi Requiem concert.

Savarese- He was a reliable B-cast baritone of the major opera houses, and in that vein gives us a suave and no-nonsense Germont. There is not much characterization to be had.

Honorable mention: The RAI chorus sounds particularly attentive, obviously inspired by their leading lady.

Overall: B+

This is a Cetra recording which I believe has been re-released on Naxos historical


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1954- Pradelli- Chorus & Orchestra of Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome
VV: Renata Tebaldi / AG: Gianni Poggi/ GG: Aldo Protti*

Maestro & Orchestra- Pradelli has at his service an orchestra Italian in sound, and which is recorded effectively in many-an opera recording. Unfortunately, he fails to engage them to achieve their own high standard. The sound is too prosaic to be effective.

Tebaldi- In many ways, her voice is that of an ideal Violetta. Pathos, intensity, and morbidezza come easily to her. Here, she often sings with fluidity ( and her ravishing trademark beauty of tone), plus enough characterization to make the heroine interesting. Unfortunately though, the florid passages and a good measure of the high notes clearly demonstrate that she was never the most able of coloratrices. Anything above an A-flat is on the stringent side, and she ends up sounding angry. Her Violetta is not an unreserved success.

Poggi- Poggi was not an altogether terrible tenor. Here, though, he sounds pedestrian; almost like he was sight reading. The voice is also not in good shape; most of the times, it sounds like he is nagging. He is much better remembered via other recordings of his.

Protti- His voice has enough weight to give Germont sufficient authority, and he partners Tebaldi well, in the duet- with some real benevolence in his voice. This Germont really does think he is wiser than the strange woman with whom he is confronted. There is nothing here that will knock your socks off, but he clearly enjoys singing with Tebaldi.

Honorable mention: Piero de Palma as Gastone

Overall: B
This is originally a Decca pressing

*1955- Serafin- Chorus & Orchestra alla Scala
VV: Antonietta Stella / AG: Guiseppi di Stefano / GG: Tito Gobbi*

Maestro & Orchestra: There is a lot of care in Serafin's conducting. Sadly though, the band does not always seem as enthusiastic as their maestro. For the leading Italian operatic orchestra, the sound is sometimes too unsentimental. It's a very good orchestral contribution; but it could have been great.

Stella: She was Legge's replacement, when Callas was unable to commit, due to contractual agreements with Cetra. Callas thought the recording would be cancelled, and when it was not, a falling-out between herself and Serafin, which lasted for almost 8 years, began. Back to our Violetta. Stella is almost always pleasant, and she works hard not to be beaten by the coloratura of Act I. Her Act two fares better (there she has Gobbi to help her along), and her Act III is the best of the three, with palpable melancholy and lonely desperation, not least in a heart-felt aria. It's an honest and convincing portrayal, that has a large enough color palette and imagination to be memorable. She is no Callas, but it's a solid Violetta.

Di Stefano: He manages a very respectable Alfredo. While the actually sound of his voice is not particularly warm, he charms us with an emotional spectrum that includes joy, sensitivity, tenderness, and disdain (at the appropriate moments). His Act II aria is among the best. His contributions to the duets also engages the response of his Violetta, which make them a joy to listen. His Alfredo amounts to all the qualities that should be expected of Germont-fil, but without any insight beyond the obvious. He's hard to dislike.

Gobbi: Gobbi, as expected vocalizes with great acting ability and detail. The sound (while at times on the dry-side) is never too grand with evidence of his wonderful chiaroscuro throughout; he also has extraordinarily intimate moments with Stella. In some ways, his approach is Callas-like, giving each syllable the weight it calls for. The sheer amount of nuance of Gobbi's performance make this Germont special. However, the most admirable quality of his portrayal is that he knows to remain restrained enough as to never strip (or even attempt to ) Violetta of her dignity, which is essential to the completeness of the Traviata voyage.

Overall: B+

This has been re-released on Naxos and Membran labels.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1955- CM Giulini- Chorus & Orchestra alla Scala
VV: Maria Callas / AG: Giuseppe di Stefano / GG: Ettore Bastianini*

Maestro & Orchestra: Giulini takes the alla Scala orchestra on a dramatic story telling voyage. He beckons the players to be a part of the tapestry that is Traviata. The sound is both intense yet supportive, and has a destiny-seeking quality to it. That is not to say that the orchestra plays perfectly; from time to time, the band sounds a bit labored; perhaps this is because Giulini's tempi are on the slow side.

Callas: This is probably the most complete portrayal of the Parisian courtesan, that we have. Her ability to invite the listener into what is really a very private story is exceptional. It almost has a closed-circuit-camera like immediacy effect, and one feels like every emotion that Violetta is confronted with, is shared- though never over-acted. The voice is in excellent shape, too- delicacy, zest, thoughtfulness, grandeur, and sheer passion (particularly the sad, desperately tragic variety) are all on offer, fused with technique and alluring detail that amount to magnificent vocal displays and coloring. Most engrossing and vital about Callas's performance, is that she (and she is the only Violetta that I know of to do this) does not let us forget that this is a story very much between herself and the unknown sister to Alfredo: her own plight is certainly one of loss, but her sacrifice is one of generosity toward another *woman*. It's entirely an uniquely engrossing and moving portrayal, both humbling and giving in artistry.

Di Stefano: He is again in fine-feather here. There is plenty of vigor (a terrific denunciation in the second party scene), hardy tone, and able to lend Alfredo with enough dimension, as to complement his soprano effectively. In act III he is tragically poised and simultaneously both remorseful and hopeful. He's also quite lyrical throughout, and truly sings his heart-out.

Bastianini: Never the most nuanced vocalist, Bastianini takes paternal authority and duty seriously. He can come across as quite unyielding though, which a cynic might say weakens his portrayal, particularly in what is supposed to be a remorseful return in act III. It's a healthy sounding Germont, albeit without much insight, and with frequent visits of both Count Ankastroem and Don Carlo di Vargas.

Overall: A
EMI

_** travelling back in time, apologies...**_

*1949- Antonicelli- Chorus & Orchestra MET
VV: Eleanor Steber / AG: Giuseppe di Stefano / GG: Robert Merrill*

Maestro & Orchestra: There is nothing here to praise as being exceptional, but Antonicelli knows the MET orchestra well (they performed together 158 times), and they play with distinction. There are two or three audible disagreements tempi wise, between maestro and his singers, particularly with di Stefano.

Steber: This is a dazzling Violetta; she sings with abandon and enthusiasm that is altogether engaging. The coloratura of act I is particularly (and perhaps surprisingly) well mastered. Act II is a bit more of the cookie-cutter variety, but it's healthy and impassioned nonetheless. Act III is more imaginative, and she succeeds in delivering a very compelling Violetta, both stylistically and musically.

Di Stefano: This was his first run of Alfredo's at the MET, and he does show some sign of nerves. It's a large house, and one senses his attempts to adapt his voice throughout; this not always with success, as the voice seems pushed forward, at times. Momentarily he seems in awe of Steber's performance, and ends up singing flat. That said, he manages to deliver an Alfredo who is, for the most part, alert, sonorous, and believable.

Merrill: Here the voice is more malleable and in synch with the character, than his earlier rendition. His phrasing is sensitive, and he realizes that Violetta can be persuaded not only by stentorian tone, but also dulcet sounds. He is- and this is meant in the nicest possible way- a very comfortable sounding Germont.

Overall: B

Released as part of Naxos Great Opera Performances series


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

A small quiz.

Just before singing _Addio del Passato_, Violetta reads a letter from Giorgio Germont:

_Teneste la promessa... 
La disfida ebbe luogo. 
Il barone fu ferito, 
però migliora… 
Alfredo è in stranio suolo. 
Il vostro sagrifizio io stesso gli ho svelato. 
Egli a voi tornerà pel suo perdono… 
Io pur verrò... 
Curatevi... 
Mertate un avvenir migliore... 
Giorgio Germont...

È tardi!

Attendo, attendo, né a me giungon mai!

Oh, come son mutata! 
Ma il Dottore a sperar pure m'esorta! 
Ah! Con tal morbo 
ogni speranza è morta!_

Eight of our Violettas mentioned in the thread are reading this letter for us. Let's see how many can we identify: 

Violetta 1: 
http://www.divshare.com/download/13910244-8e9

Violetta 2: 
http://www.divshare.com/download/13910252-955

Violetta 3: 
http://www.divshare.com/download/13910265-a22

Violetta 4: 
http://www.divshare.com/download/13910273-e97

Violetta 5: 
http://www.divshare.com/download/13910286-608

Violetta 6: 
http://www.divshare.com/download/13910303-18b

Violetta 7: 
http://www.divshare.com/download/13910326-be1

Violetta 8: 
http://www.divshare.com/download/13910335-998


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1956- Monteux- Chorus & Orchestra Rome Opera
VV: Rosana Carteri / AG: Cesare Valetti / GG: Leonard Warren*

Maestro & Orchestra: Monteux never really connects with this opera. Obviously not particularly italianite in spirit, maestro offers no attractive or characterful alternative. Plus, it's all very slow moving- the culinary equivalent would be stew. The sound is generally dull, and void of impetus.

Carteri: The voice is not in good condition here. She lacks brilliance and never seems to develop her character. There is a hard-edge to her vocals, throughout. Only in Act II does she deliver some reasonably emotional and shaded singing. Her results, for the most part, unfortunately do not match her intentions.

Valetti: Valetti fares much better. He cannot but struggle with the slow tempi at times, but he does manage to lend Alfredo enough personality to emerge as involving. The aria is laced with a sense of devotion that sounds both open and spontaneous. The denunciation is also successful, with plenty of heft. A respectable performance, given his surroundings.

Warren: Save for a melodious aria, peppered with subtleties, excellent phrasing, and some lovely piani, Warren does not convince. The voice seems detached and muddled throughout much of his rendition. It's all very Macbeth.

Overall: C+

Originally RCA, rerelease by Testament

*1958- Ghione- Chorus & Orchestra Lisbon San Carlos
VV: Maria Callas / AG: Alfredo Kraus/ GG: Mario Sereni*

Maestro & Orchestra: The Lisbon orchestra plays well enough. Ghione could have injected a bit more passion and drama at times, but generally the conducting is becoming of what otherwise must have been an exceptional evening at the opera.

Callas: Callas delivers another uniquely disarming Violetta. Not all of the singing is beautiful and gleaming, but all of it is galvanizing, detailed, and permeated with outpourings of authentic expression. Her ability to be both intense and vulnerable in the same phrase is masterful. A careful listener will be exhausted by the end of the opera, so much of her performance is that involving. Some of the high notes, however, are decidedly strident.

Kraus: As always with Kraus, the voice can be a bit parched, but here he is also quite youthful in sound, and fleet in delivery. There is real disgust in his denunciation, and act III offers some astonishingly refined singing in the duet. Many a tenor would have sounded distinctly secondary next to Callas- Kraus does not.

Sereni: He delivers an intelligent Germont, who is capable of throughtful opulence, supported by some marvellous Italian phrasing and dynamic shifts. Much of his interpretation is on the patronizing side, but if any character in opera can accommodate this comfortably, it would be Germont pere. In act III he demonstrates genuine concern. It's a very convincing contribution.

Overall: A-

EMI


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

oh how fun, schigolch- i shall post my _guesses_ when i am back at a pc that has a sound-card


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## ooopera (Jul 27, 2011)

That's great Schigolch.

Violetta 1: Anna Netrebko.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Very well, she is indeed Anna Netrebko.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Oh my, I'm clearly behind, after having proposed the whole thing.
I haven't delivered my essay on _La Dame aux Camélias_ and am not even close to doing it, not at all. I browsed the book and its essays and references for some 75 minutes when I got it, put it aside, and haven't opened it since. I've been very busy at work. I'll be very busy this weekend.

I can only predict that next weekend I'll have more time to look into it, so bear with me (or if someone else does it before me, fine)


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Almaviva said:


> I can only predict that next weekend I'll have more time to look into it, so bear with me (or if someone else does it before me, fine)


I wouldn't worry about it, Alma. If we don't pressure people with a rigid timetable, more of them may want to participate in future projects.

I'm nearly ready to present my own contribution on directors' interpretations (this will be a multi-parter, like some of the topics that have been posted already). I'm enjoying Ballo's series on audio recordings, though, and would just as soon let her finish before throwing such a completely different approach into the mix.

Also, schigolch, you mentioned something about reviewing DVDs, which might potentially overlap with some of my essay. Would you be looking at them in terms of the vocal performances, rather than the director's concept?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Oh, I just mentioned the DVDs because Ballo was only reviewing CDs. If you are covering the DVDs, that's fine with me.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1959- Serafin- Chorus & Orchestra Rome Opera
VV: Victoria de los Angeles / AG: Carlo del Monte / GG: Mario Sereni*

Maestro & Orchestra: Serafin leaves us wanting for nothing. The sound is rich and accomplished. There is also an appealing modesty to his baton. Particularly the Act I intro is beautifully executed, with a magical sense of suspension.

De los Angeles: Hers has to be by far the most lovable Violetta of the collection. The voice shimmers, and glistens, particularly in the conversational passages. She is also quite a feminine heroine. The one element that she seems to lack though, is decadence; it is perhaps all a bit too poised, too graceful for a character who is really on the brink of sanity, humiliation, and impending death. Violetta is no angel, but here she is almost too celestial, and there is not much of a fall from grace. The beauty of her performance, however, cannot be denied.

Del Monte: Del Monte was the stage name of the Spanish-born tenor Heleni Barjau i Vallmitjana. Some might know him from Lucia performances of Callas in Mexico City, where he featured as Arturo. The voice is quite muscular but he manages to tone down his delivery at the tender moments well, and acquits himself as an admirable Alfredo. He doesn't always quite manage to make the voice go where he wants it to, and some phrases are a tad choppy, but it doesn't happen often enough to truly distract. He's a pleasure to listen to.

Sereni- He returns for a studio rendition this time, and here again he is gracious and affectionate in tone, while preferring gravity to preaching in the more demanding passages. The act II duet goes swimmingly; in fact- in de los Angeles company, it all transpires a bit too Puccini-esque. He is again highly sympathetic.

Overall: B/B+

EMI

*1960- Previtali- Chorus & Orchestra Rome Opera
VV: Anna Moffo / AG: Richard Tucker / GG: Robert Merrill*

Maestro & Orchestra: We hear the Roman band again; under Previtali, the sound is healthy and fresh, without offering any particular highlights.

Moffo: With her usual covered but uniquely beautiful tone, she gives us a Violetta who has the skills to tackle the florid passages and the gravitas to deliver the tragic moments (some are whispered to astonishing effect). The sound is at times quite dark though, and here and there the dimensions she wants to convey do not quite make it past the microphone to the listeners ears, in the comfort of his/her own home, decades later. Other passages do though, and there is a wonderful radiance at these moments. There is perhaps a certain lack of boldness to her rendition that may leave some listeners untouched. It's certainly not a bad performance , but there is not much that will leave you breathless, either.

Tucker: Here we have a formidable voice, that allows for too many appearances of Cavaradossi or even Radames to distract from what should really be a youthful and lyric sound. At times he sounds much like Mario Lanza's many recordings, giving the character a sort of general operatic ring, rather than specific sentiments, appropriate to varying situations.

Merrill: The sound is bronze like and fluid, and he makes for a sympathetic Germont, in a grand-opera-house-type fashion. Splendid, yet not often judicious in imparting a particular sentiment. Oddly, the aria is taken at quite a fast pace, which hinders the nostalgic element.

Honorable Mention: Once again, Piero de Palma's Gastone.

Overall: B

Originally an RCA pressing


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1962- Votto- Teatro Alla Scala Orch & Chorus
VV: Renata Scotto / AG: Gianni Raimondi / GG: Ettore Bastianini*

Maestro & Orchestra: Here, Votto is a for the most part a disappointment. With the alla Scala forces at his service, he fails to inspire them to deliver much color or subtlety. Although never ugly, most of it, is generic Verdi musak. To his credit, he does accompany the singing well, but laregely forgets to allow the orchestra to set moods.

Scotto: Scotto is probably one of the most communicative and heartfelt performers of our heroine. Quite young here still (and again, like Callas earlier- pre her weight loss), she scales the act I aria with assuredness, infuses magnetic pathos in act II, and is tireless in tragedy in act III. Her letter reading is particularly melancholy and dejected, and she hovers some lovely pianissimi in the ensuing aria. It's an arresting performance, with a vast inventory of colors.

Raimondi: His Alfredo is attractive, if a bit on the glum side. The cheerful passages are often side-stepped with somewhat lax vocalization. He comes across a bit like a dude who beats-around the bush. It's a conventional rendition, but easy on the ears.

Bastianini: He is in very good voice here; the sound is full-throated and intense. There is not much more though, and the result is somewhat blatant, and the characterization tends to fall flat. There are too few tender moments; this father is clearly stubborn and possessive.

Overall: B/ B+

DG recording

*1962- Pritchard- Florence Magio Musicale Orch & Chorus
VV: Joan Sutherland / AG: Carlo Bergonzi / GG: Robert Merrill*

Maestro & Orchestra: Pritchard leads a long song; most of the traditional cuts are opened. His tempi choices are sometimes not compatible with what is (supposedly) occuring between the characters. The orchestra is here a well-behaved band.

Sutherland: The voice is fresh, flexible, and unfaltering. Her technique overshadows the performance which otherwise displays few moments of real poignancy, depth, or sentimentality. Her hallmark poor enunciation surfaces occasionally. The tragedy is touched upon, but not part of the narrow core of her (two dimensional) portrayal. It's all very impressive, but leaves one wanting for more Verdi, and less Bonynge.

Bergonzi: Hammy though his contribution may be, at least it is wonderfully generous. The sound is open and quite noble, while not concealing Alfredo's romanticism. He integrates some lovely rubati. It's a fervent portrayal that is impossible to resist.

Merrill: Welcome back, Mr Merrill. He hasn't changed much, and sounds well. Still a model, if not cream of the crop Germont.

Honorable mention: Sound engineer Kenneth Wilkinson.

Overall: B (B+, if you like the opened cuts)

Decca


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

amfortas said:


> I'm enjoying Ballo's series on audio recordings, though, and would just as soon let her finish before throwing such a completely different approach into the mix.


yay; that's great... I'll keep chugging along, then!


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

1*965- Patanè- Orch & Chorus Bayerische Staatsoper
VV: Teresa Stratas / AG: Fritz Wunderlich / GG: Hermann Prey*

Maestro & Orchestra: The sound here is not quite Italian, and Patane' has opted for the accompanist role, rather than the invigorating through leadership. At times, the synergy between the orchestra and singers is a bit off; perhaps a lack of rehearsal time, or nerves. Or both.

Stratas: Considering her later Lulu and Traviata motion picture credentials, her performance here is quite pallid. The voice is not at ease either, and the Act I aria is barely pieced together. At other times, she is entirely seraphic (in a Mimi Boheme kind of way)- and pleasant to listen to. She was obvious a creature to behold, because the audience does not seem to mind any shortcomings. There are glimpses of Stratas inhabiting the character, but not quite enough to be a serious contender as one of the better Violettas. It's not for lack of general involvement; perhaps she fared better in the studio.

Wunderlich: Any recording of his is worthy of attention. Here we have a rare original language recording of his (German houses were in the 60's still reluctant to offer anything non-translated). As usual, the beauty of tone- and it's humaneness- is staggering. His usual combination of virility and nobility (the fresh buoyant variety- not the gruffy grey kind) is at once engaging. There is not much of a characterization beyond the self-evident, but it's a forthright performance that captivates and is sufficiently moving. He does, however, have a few tempi lapses, particularly at his Act III entrance.

Prey: The voice is flexible and histrionically applied. There are perhaps a few too many sobs and sighs, for some listeners. The line, is decidedly non- Italian, and doesn't quite invoke middle-Verdi vocalization. But it's a healthy instrument which is applied with Prey's trademark non-chalant sexiness. He's fun to listen to- which I'm not sure is a compliment.

Honorable mention: Brigitte Fassbaender's Annina

Overall: B
Incidentally: this was August Everding's first ever opera production.

Orfeo Release

*1967- Giulini- Orch & Chorus ROH Covent Garden
VV: Mirella Freni / AG: Renato Cioni / GG: Piero Cappuccilli*

Maestro & Orchestra: Giulini acquits himself as a veritable orchestral illustrator again. The sound is in turn luscious, tender, delicate and always in service of the drama. The detail is never for the sake of detail, and most of the performance is wonderfully atmospheric.

Freni: The voice is healthy and pliable; even the fioritura of act I is negotiated reasonably well. It's quite a rotund sound though, that does not always allow for enough minutia to reveal the full dimension of the woman that is Violetta. It's a bit of a meat-and -potatoes heroine, probably a bit too wholesome. Not surprisingly, act III is the most compatible with Freni's lyric/verismo gifts.

Cioni: In many respects Cioni is an ideal Alfredo. Lyric and Italian in tone, not afraid to show a temper or to be equally moved and moving. He also invests quite a bit of shading - and scores. It is also quite a grown-up and seasoned performance; his Milan performances 3 years earlier opposite Moffo (with Karajan in the pit) serve him well. It's not a perfect performance though; he had a wonderful legato in his arsenal, but sadly does not always use it.

Cappucilli: This was his debut role at the ROH. The voice is potent and dexterous. His act II duet contribution is quite robust: he tends to favor the stand and delivery style, which showcases his own endowment, leaving Freni to fend for herself. It's a bit of a "now, now dear" approach, rather than a real investigation into patriarchy, duty, and social ramifications. The sound though, is marvellously operatic, and splendidly dignified.

Overall: B

From the now defunct Frequenz label


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

BalloinMaschera said:


> yay; that's great... I'll keep chugging along, then!


Please do Ballo, I'm finding these really informative


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

sospiro said:


> Please do Ballo, I'm finding these really informative


Me too. And I've been very impressed (and a bit intimidated ) by the depth of knowledge people have brought to this project. Definitely way beyond a Wikipedia article!


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

sospiro said:


> Please do Ballo, I'm finding these really informative


Great... I shall proceed


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

amfortas said:


> Me too. And I've been very impressed (and a bit intimidated ) by the depth of knowledge people have brought to this project. Definitely way beyond a Wikipedia article!


... Traviata is not (and won't be, even after this exercise) my favorite opera, but it's good to revisit recordings I have not listened to in ages... so thanks to Alma for the thread idea...


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1967- Prêtre- Orch & Chorus RCA Italiana
VV: Monserrat Caballé / AG: Carlo Bergonzi / GG: Sherrill Milnes*

Maestro & Orchestra- Prêtre also opts to open up all the traditional cuts. The RCA orchestra (probably a piece-band contracted adhoc for an RCA series) plays alertly and with a rich sound, even if sometimes the tempi are on the erratic side and the style is not always particularly Verdian. Maestro does, however, pay a welcome attention to detail with regard to the dynamics of the score. While the preludes are executed beautifully, Prêtre seems to favor the singers, but who can blame him for that- given his cast?

Caballé- Here we have undoubtedly a major singer, singing a major part. The voice is uniformly polished and surprisingly youthful in sound. Her floated pianissimi are applied with taste and mostly in synch with the drama. There is however, perhaps a tendency toward generic chagrin,that renders the characterization a bit too courteous- one wants for quite a bit more grit. The upbeat and flirtatious passages are too refined, and more "lady in waiting" than "courtesan with an agenda". The facility and radiance of her vocals, though are very admirable, as are her instincts for anguish.

Bergonzi: He is in excellent and burnished voice, again. The singing has an appeasing and communicative quality, particularly suited toward the romantic passages; his _Un di Felice_ is particularly persuasive and fetching. He does however, also display the ability for agitation and excitement; the denunciation sequence is very successful. This Alfredo is exceptionally musical (with a gorgeous legato), and one to relish.

Milnes: Quite young here, Milnes sounds more like Alfredo's older brother, than father at times. He displays a classy and resplendent sound, but is also quite unsubtle in delivery. This leads to a characterization that (save for a few lovely intimate moments in act II) almost illustrates Germont as having a scheming streak, rather than a sophisticated personification of duty and respectable society (mis)perceptions.

Overall: B (B+ if you like the open cuts)

RCA pressing

*1968- Maazel- Orch & Chorus DO Berlin
VV: Pilar Lorengar / AG: Giacomo Aragall / GG: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau*

Maestro & Orchestra: Maazel led the DO performances on stage with his three protagonists, and it shows. The orchestra seems comfortable, even in maestros frenzied party-scenes. The sound is a bit too small-scaled- almost Mozart-like at times. It's all a bit giocoso, in the Don Giovanni vein, rather than true Verdian Italian playing with true forza.

Lorengar: She sings with gusto and commitment, without manifesting any particularly insight about her character. The tone is warm and charming; her vibrato is perhaps an acquired taste, but I find it contributes to the edginess of the character. Her Violetta is also quite witty; a trait lost in many other renditions. That said, for all its adroitness and assuredness, Lorengar's Violetta does not really make an emotional journey (the voice of Act I does not differ much from that of act III), and the performance is on the forgettable side.

Aragall: Here we have a winsome and enchanting voice that does not quite mesmerize or galvanize. This Alfredo lacks somewhat in provocation and appeal. His latin allure is best captured in his aria. There is nothing wrong with his tuneful Alfredo , he just doesn't quite emit enough theatrics to sustain one's aural attention throughout.

Fischer-Dieskau- Never one to sing with lack of character, Fi-Di's contribution is valuable, here. He has conceived Germont as being nothing if not influential. His appeal to Violetta to cut short her happiness is laid out like a successful sales pitch. He coerces, probes and motivates with his lyric and impressible voice; later he is momentous in his interruption at Flora's party, and placates effectively in act III. He also manages to conceal his teutonic roots far better than Prey, earlier.

Overall: B

Decca pressing


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1968- Bobescu- Orch & Chorus of Romanian Opera Bucharest
VV: Virginia Zeani / AG: Ion Buzea / GG: Nicolai Herlea*

Maestro & Orchestra: Perhaps as proof of their geographic proximity, the Bucharest orchestra, under Bobescu plays with about as true an Italian sound as Milan or Rome bands we have encountered earlier. There are a few overzealously messy moments, but the conducting is generally alert and enthusiastic, with an array of colors, and stylistically correct. It's also quite a drama-driven sound, with enough impetus so not to be remembered as a mere accompanist-type band.

Zeani: Hers is one of the most successful Violetta assumptions on record. We hear her at her vocal peak, when coloratura came easily, as did the lyric and forceful passages. She also gives us quite an inventive and teasing heroine with a striking balance between mellifluous vulnerability and daring spirit. Her vocal resources are also abundant, such that we never feel like she needs to resort to efficiency at the expense of passion. There is not that much of a character development, but what we have is such an intense and elegant Violetta, that she commands attention throughout. It's a superlative performance, aided by a rich and bewitching voice. While some (even many) consider Angela Gheorghiu's performance (which we will encounter later) as definitive, it's not surprising that Gheorghiu herself has described Zeani as her own favorite Violetta.

Buzea: Here we have a solid tenor, who sang virtually every major tenor part of the Italian rep. The voice is perhaps more suited to Ernani or Don Alvaro, but it has mettle and an exciting ring at the top. Perhaps because the voice is so steady, we lose a bit of Alfredo's naive culpability in the tragedy- at times one wants for more buoyancy. He's also a very public Alfredo, with not much intimacy, but it is a glowing rendition, and rousing to listen to.

Herlea: Again we have here a sumptuous voice, virile in tone and with exceptional reserves. Herela has a gift of splendid phrasing and legato. He also does some shading in the big duet, where we are led to believe that Germont is perhaps a bit torn by his own demands of Violetta already in act II, effectively foreshadowing his remorse of act III. While there is the obvious (and important) element of duty, we also get a genuine sense of dedication toward Violetta; he understands the sacrifice. It's quite an expansive voice, mercurial in tone, that makes for some great listening.

Honorable Mentions: Elisabeta Neculce as Flora and a very young Vasile Moldoveanu (who later became a star MET tenor) in the tiny role of Violetta's servant Giuseppe.

Slight downside: The chorus's contributions cannot be described as excellent.

Overall: A-

Originally an Electrecord pressing, later released on VOX


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Since my computer currently is giving me abundant problems (as in "I'm going to have to get a new one") and I start school in about a week, I'm going to have to withdraw from this project. Sorry.

I can, however of course participate in future projects.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Aksel said:


> Since my computer currently is giving me abundant problems (as in "I'm going to have to get a new one") and I start school in about a week, I'm going to have to withdraw from this project. Sorry.
> 
> I can, however of course participate in future projects.


 What were you supposed to do, remind me please?


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> What were you supposed to do, remind me please?


The biographical context of La traviata, or something to that effect.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Aksel said:


> The biographical context of La traviata, or something to that effect.


 Well, OK, I can provide a quick summary.
Verdi had been offered the topic before, and refused saying that putting a prostitute on the operatic stage wasn't proper.
Then he started co-habitation with Strepponi, in Busseto (a small town in his region of birth in Italy), and the local society shunned her because of her less than spotless past (she had a child out of wedlock and may have had brief stints at prostitution before she became a successful singer). Ladies would walk out of a room when she entered the room. Verdi was pissed off. He traveled to Paris with Strepponi and they attended the Dumas Fils' play _La Dame aux Camélias_. Verdi then decided to set it to music after all, to show to people that even ex-prostitutes could have a good heart. He was disgusted with social hypocrisy, and said that he wanted to compose an opera that would be about "un soggetto d'atualità" (a contemporary argument).


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1971- Ceccato - RPO & John Alldis Choir
VV: Beverly Sills / AG: Nicolaï Gedda / GG: Rolando Panerai*

Maestro & Orchestra: The son in law of Victor de Sabata, Ceccato draws quite a detailed and rich sound from the RPO. The band being typically a symphonic ensemble allows itself to be reined in reasonably well, and displays sufficient Italian flair. Ceccato's tempi, however are generally extremely broad, and often on the verge of the oppresive. The intent seems to be to allow the music to develop and expand, but with all the cuts open, more often than not, these become tedious and wanting for Verdian tension.

Sills: Hers is a successful performance. She is uplifting yet fragile in act I, passionate in act II, and touchingly lamentable in act III. Her voice is also in excellent form, it seems to go everywhere she wants it to go- even the bottom- and she shapes phrases knowingly and with purpose. Given the slow tempi, she really has to plan her vocal journey, but she manages- albeit just barely- to keep up with maestro. There is also considerable warmth and spontaneous sincerity in her rendition; hers is generally a disconsolate heroine without vagueness, rather than arbitrarily mopey . Her inclination toward a quivering tone is persistent though, and some may find it bothersome. Fans of Bubble will not be disappointed.

Gedda: The performance is refined (perhaps almost too much; his character becomes stagy at times) and he works hard to lend the recording dramatic differentiation. He enjoys singing with Sills, and they structure the duets with ardor. His aria is approached as a soliloquy, and the result is quite poignant and meticulously artful. The big moments are delivered with sufficient aplomb and courage. While his enunciation is exemplary, there is throughout a certain lack of true Italian tonicity and temper. It's all quite stylish in a cosmopolitan sort of way, rather than truly Verdian.

Panerai: His is a performance of contrasts. The duet is unvaried and declamatory in tone and delivery. He sounds more like a preaching priest (or a salesman!) than an elder with misgivings about his son's lifestyle, while strangely enchanted by his mistress. He interacts little with Sill's generous Violetta and we wish for far more reciprocity of expression. Until the aria and stretta, this Germont is simply dull and ungainly. However, the aria affords Panerai a departure that is altogether extraordinary. We suddenly witness a veritable lesson in rich Verdian line, soulful communication, and character molding. It's an astonishing and welcome reversal in quality, and where the measure of Panerai's art should lie. One is left wondering if the contrast was intentional. If it was, the duet is too important and long to make a single point, and the effect is a losing one. In act III he is solemly dignified.

Overall: B (B+, if you can handle the over-expansive tempi and opened cuts)


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1971- Krips- Orch and Chorus Vienna State Opera
VV: Ileana Cotrubas / AG: Nicolai Gedda / GG: Cornell MacNeil*

Maestro & Orchestra: Krips was of course one of the supreme Mozart maestros of his generation, but his transition to Verdi is successful. He was very well liked in Vienna. His baton here is fluid and rousing, while rather conventional in the points he makes. There are a few moments where the the orchestra and the soloists are not quite synchronized. The _Brindisi _is simply put- sloppy. Beyond that, he cannot be faulted.

Cotrubas: Here in her early vocal prime, the voice is scintillating and dances through the trials of the first act. Her second act is remarkable for her its sophistication of phrasing and illuminating tone. It's a very devoted and genuine performance, and none of her intentions seem feigned. Hers is a communicative voice, where individual notes may not always be the most beautiful ones, but she connects everything so well, as to paint a complete vocal picture. Some may be put off by her occasional oddly unsupported emission, which leaves some notes sounding hollow. Act III is particularly sensuous in tone, and she gives us true tragedy, rather than melodrama. There may not be tons of specificity to her performance, but it's so heartfelt and well sung, that she wins us over.

Gedda: He is here more at ease with the tempi, and there is more tension than in his studio rendition. While there is less room for details in this performance than in the studio with Sills, the effect is also less fussy; this Alfredo is more in tune with Verdi's demands. The voice itself, while still not truly Italian, is healthy and delivered with elan, especially after he has warmed up (He smears quite a bit in the _Brindisi_). He clearly savors singing with Cotrubas and MacNeil.

MacNeil: A true Verdian, his phrasing and delivery is first-class. He is also an intelligent and sympathetic singer, obliging in character and engaging in appeal. His aria is about as polished as one would want. The sound is full and vibrant with a solid legato and he has a strong sense of the words. It's quite a guarded characterization, but appropriately eloquent and authentic.

Overall: B/B+

This is not a commercially available recording.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

** adendum to the Krips review... Honorable Mention: a very young Edita Gruberova (!) making the most of Flora **

*1973- Gardelli- Orch and Chorus of State Opera Berlin
VV: Mirella Freni / AG: Franco Bonisolli / GG: Sesto Bruscantini*

Maestro & Orchestra: We have here a famous Italian operatic maestro, considered a Verdi specialist with a major operatic orchestra at his disposal. Expectations would be high. However (and perhaps because the recording is actually the audio portion of a German TV broadcast), the sound and tempi are decidedly pedantic (the slow, rather than the useful kind). This scholastic approach hardly invigorates the orchestra, and much of the their contribution is far from thrilling. Perhaps the idea was to draw an aristocratic and polished sound, but the result is too complacent. It's almost like both maestro and the instrumentalists were too familiar with the score.

Freni: Here she has not lost most of her lovely plump and arched tone, and she delivers some gracefully shaped, yet oddly muted phrasing. Her characterization is perhaps too much on the wistful side; her intent may have been to highlight Violetta's private torment, but the consequence is a somewhat abstracted heroine. The act I coloratura was never going to be her strength, but she manages reasonably well, and the following two acts at least give us enough beautiful singing, so that the listener does remain (barely) alert. The sound is certainly Italian, it's just a bit too curbed in characterization, and not detailed or exciting enough to thrill/engage, as Violetta should.

Bonisolli: At Freni's side, Bonisolli acquits himself (perhaps surpisingly) well. Quite young still, here, the sound is obviously genuinely Italian with some lovely spin and sheen, athletic and impulsive in dispersal. There are of course moments when he cannot help but conceal a Manrico in the making, but he does deliver some boyishly shaded phrases. He is an impatient and eager Alfredo, which is not entirely unsuitable to the character. His bashfully affected contributions to the duets are generally not over-acted, and quite admirable .

Bruscantini: The trio is completed by another native Italian, who however, leaves us wanting for more grace and intimacy. His legato is not quite intact, and some of his delivery is coarse and dry. We hear too much of Mozart's Don Alfonso, and not enough Verdian paternal strife. It's not an entirely unsatisfactory or heartless performance; perhaps he was looking for inspiration of bourgeois displeasure from both maestro and the leading lady, and found little that motivated.

Overall: B-

Label: Acanta


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

Check out this article about the depiction of tuberculosis patients in the arts:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol8no11/02-0549.htm


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

A very interesting article, Ballo.

Have a great vacation! I'm still enjoying your reviews very much, and will wait until you're back to complete your survey before going on to discuss directors' interpretations.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

amfortas said:


> A very interesting article, Ballo.
> 
> Have a great vacation! I'm still enjoying your reviews very much, and will wait until you're back to complete your survey before going on to discuss directors' interpretations.


@ amfortas: *Thank you!*


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## FragendeFrau (May 30, 2011)

Fantastic article, thanks so much for sharing it!!


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

hi guys and gals...

I shall resume the CD reviews shortly; and should hopefully have a new addition posted by tomorrow morning


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1977- Kleiber- Orch and Chorus of Bayreische Staatsoper
VV: Ileana Cotrubas / AG: Placido Domingo / GG: Sherrill Milnes*

Maestro & Orchestra: At Kleiber's tightly drawn tempi, the orchestra plays with an extraordinary sense of urgency. It at times verges on the energetically contrived, but the sound is so atmospheric, that it engages and enthralls. It's generally not a particularly intimate sound though, and it all sounds quite formal- albeit in a visceral fashion, and with considerable vision. While the orchestral contribution could be characterized in many ways- lifeless or boring, it is not.

Cotrubas: She fares well in the studio, and delivers a highly nuanced heroine. Her ability to balance Violetta's outwardly wretched fragility and feverish anxiety with a resolute inward fortitude is very effective. At times her Violetta comes off a bit like she could be Antonia's (Hoffmann) more intellectual sister, but that would not be too far flung, at least in terms of demeanor. Vocally, she is in excellent shape; dynamic and flexible in act I, sorrowfully lyric in act II, and anguished and doleful in act III (which is delivered with considerable morbidezza). Many would (understandably) argue that her Violetta should rank among the top few best, not least for her ability to emote to far above average heights. It should also be both noted that her diction is at times compromised by her mostly unrestrained musical expression, and that her soubrette origins cannot be effaced; although she rises to the challenge, she is clearly at her limit in terms of the vocal weight demands of the part.

Domingo: The voice is here Domingonian in the sense that he delivers with typical panache and sumptuously handsome tone. While he manages some doe-eyed and youthful singing in his aria, otherwise the tone is quite corporeal though, and his Alfredo can be on the overly robust side- perhaps even slightly lacking in charm. From a vocal standpoint though, one would have to dig deep to find fault. His voice is well matched with Cotrubas, and they obviously feel comfortable singing together- she was his partner of choice for a number of recordings.

Milnes: The voice here is grand and generally delivered in a noble manner. He does however, manage to reveal a Germont who -even while asking great sacrifices from Violetta- manages to illuminate their strange encounter, which in turn lends the former courtesan dignity. His is not a presumptuously pompous Germont, but rather an honourable and resourceful one. Some may find his tendency toward the guttural, when singing high notes, aurally troublesome.

Overall: B++/A-

DG Pressing


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

19*79- Bonynge- National Philharmonic Orchestra & London Opera Chorus
VV: Joan Sutherland / AG: Luciano Pavarotti / GG: Matteo Manguerra*

Maestro & Orchestra: The now defunct NPO was an orchestra that was created exclusively by the record companies, for recordings. For the most part, the players are from the LPO, a band which does not often get the opportunity of playing operatic rep. The sound is quite grand, spacious, clean, focused, and unfussed. Bonynge's tempi however, can be on the lugubrious and routine side, particularly in the later scenes. All the the cuts are opened. It should be noted that his is a very singer-centric rendition, and that while the orchestral sound is operatic and generous, there are moments when more variety in palette could have been coerced.

Sutherland: While she still displays much of the brilliance and solid technique from her earlier recording, she has not gained much in terms of characterization. The act I aria, remains a model for technical assertion. Again, Sutherland only manages to scratch the surface of the complexities of Violetta and her predicament. Her general lack of nuance is further undermined by a lusterless middle voice- many of the notes just on the stave or below are almost devoid of dramatic significance. This Violetta, while vocally supremely endowed, remains a bit on the inexpressive side, without sufficient rhapsody, passion, or enigma that make for a great Violetta. Her poor diction surfaces intermittently.

Pavarotti: The voice here is generous, open, and delivered with considerable ardor. He works hard to lend Alfredo intimacy next to Sutherland's ample Violetta. His voice is applied with a lovely romantic spin in the duets, and disdain in the denunciation sequence, and touching concern in the last act. There is not much new revealed about the character (he's opted for the eager impetous vein) , that we haven't heard elsewhere, but for vocal splendor and stylish efforts to shade and shape the music, this Alfredo is top notch.

Manguerra: His Germont père is a success. The voice is quite youthful, and he can sound a bit like a familiar village vicar, advising Violetta, rather than an adamant would be father-in-law, deeply distressed about his daughter's prospects and his own reputation. The sound is very fluid and rich though, with a lovely legato, and firm Italian line. While there may not be much that is particularly detailed , this Germont is very well sung, in a smooth-operator sort of way.

Overall: B/B+

Decca Pressing


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1980- Muti- Philharmonia Orch & Ambrosian Opera Chorus
VV: Renata Scotto / AG: Alfredo Kraus / GG: Renato Bruson*

Maestro & Orchestra: Led here by a major operatic conductor, the Phil is made to play some speedy and sometimes erratic tempi. Particularly the party scenes are frenzied, almost to the point of (albeit structured) confusion. The sound is reasonably rich, with vigorously applied dynamics. Some listeners may find that Muti tries too hard to be "different", which distorts some of the drama. Others may find the results interesting and rewarding. For what it's worth, he does manage to support his trio of protagonists quite well.

Scotto: She remains a consummate and engaging singing actress. Her usual dedication to the intricacies of a part are felt and heard throughout; this is, as ever quite involving and deepfelt. Particularly act III is suited to her experienced dramatic instincts; she very successfully balances gravitas with frailty. Her efforts, however, compared to the earlier recording will seem to some as being less spontaneous and more mannered than before. The voice, no longer has the freshness it had under Votto. Many of the high notes are void of effervescence, and are decidedly harsh. The middle voice, while often imbued with immense amounts of feeling, can wobble. Her voice always had a natural edge to it; here, it is pronounced, with a tendency to spread.

Kraus: He has retained his stylish vocal line and elegant application. Much like Scotto, his familiarity with Alfredo is here, a studied one, and is perhaps too seasoned for what should be a spontaneous and unrestrained young man. He does deliver some lovely romantically embued singing; his contribution to "Parigi o cara" really pulls at the listeners' heart-strings. The sound though, is again on the dry side, and his lungs have trouble keeping up with a few of the long phrases.

Bruson: The tone and sound are reffulgent, generous and polished. It's perhaps more of a belcanto voice though, than a truly Verdian one, and while both advantageously attractive and musically hard to fault, he does not quite manage the dramatic weight that most would want to hear from a demanding patriarch. His interruption at Flora's party , so important to the development of his character as it foreshadows his remorse in act III, falls quite flat. The sound is also perhaps on the young-ish side, and some may find that this distorts the generation gap, particularly in the expansive act II duet with Scotto.

Overall: B

EMI


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1989- Paternostro- Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra & Fujiwara Opera Chorus
VV: Lucia Aliberti/ AG: Peter Dvorsky/ GG: Renato Bruson*

Maestro & Orchestra: The Japanese orchestra is generally repsonsive to Paternostro's reliable conducting. The tempi are consistently in stead with the drama; the sound is not quite as warm as that of most of the major orchestras that we have encountered already. There is perhaps a certain hesitance to play out, for fear of disappointing maestro. It would be interesting to know how much rehearsal time they had together.

Aliberti: Some will find her vocals especially detailed, others will find them especially mannered and too precious. She shades and varies her voice sufficiently and manages to move the listener. The voice itself is not of great beauty- some may find it Callas-like, but without the same total immersion and pallate of sensitivities. She makes a very competent Violetta; particularly her act I aria is well received by thunderous applause.

Dvorsky: He is not captured well here. The voice is forceful, rather than passionate. More often than not, he sounds stretched and at times also tired. There are intermittent efforts to sing piano and to enfuse some feeling, but the results are too uncomfortable to conjure a full characterization. He was a better singer than this.

Bruson: While reasonably paternal, his Germont is quite light-voiced here. The technique is solid though, and he manages an acceptable contribution. It's a straight-forward rendition, without many gimmicks, that while solid, will not be memorable to many.

Overall: B-


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

I have not forgotten about this thread; I've just been really busy at work... I hope to continue the recordings reviews soon!

1989- Inessa Galante's Violetta is next!


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

That's fine, Ballo. I'll go on to talk about directors' interpretations after you're done, but there's no hurry. I've been busy myself!


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1989- A. Vilumanis- Latvian National Opera Orchestra & Chorus
VV: Inessa Galante / AG: Ingus Peterson / Samsons Izjumovs*

Maestro & Orchestra: The preeminent Baltic conductor leads a fair orchestral contribution. There is almost never sufficient precision to demonstrate a homogenous and consistent sound, never mind anything remotely Verdian. The word "provincial", reluctantly comes to mind. Even if the effort is palpable, the results are not really commendable. At least he doesn't resort to any unnerrving tempi.

Galante: Hers was an attractive instrument with considerable extension and a (sometimes) pleasantly shimmering timbre. Violetta, however, wants for far more than pleasant vocalization. She has a few lovely moments in act II and III, with fragmentary hints of engaging tragedy. The sound though, is at times quite light, almost operetta- like, and she can seem like she has just waltzed in from a vaudeville scene. Her characterization is obliging and sympathetic, but also mundane and routine. She also has a tendency to change Verdi's markings- singing some notes staccato, when they should clearly be legato. As the prima-donna of the Riga opera, she was perhaps allowed such latitude by Maestro.

Peterson: He manages some dramatic singing, and also tries hard to spin some attractive phrasing. His middle voice can be attractive, but the rest is decidedly nasal and can be both wearisome and colorless. He clearly takes his cues from Galante, but this is not enough to deliver an engaging Alfredo. However, of the three principals, his Italian diction is the best.

Izjumovs: An experienced Verdian, his baritone is an agreeable instrument. His Germont is delivered with reasonably handsome tone, and some benevolence and patrimony. The duet goes well. The majority of the characterization, however, is too underwhelming to be of consequence; there is a lack of potency and grandeur that would be needed to pull off a Germont that doesn't have much memorable detail to begin with.

Drawback: the chorus is simply not good, and its time keeping is particularly weak.

A Campion Records Pressing


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Overall? 

Haven't heard this recording.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

schigolch said:


> Overall?
> 
> Haven't heard this recording.


Gosh, apologies- the gap between this review and the one before it, is so big, that I completely forgot the Overall rating.

It gets a C

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=25877

http://www.amazon.com/Traviata-Verdi/dp/B000026AKE/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1317127605&sr=8-8


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*apologies *for my hiatus... here are two more...

*1990- Rahbari- Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra & Slovak State Philharmonic Chorus
VV: Monika Krause / AG: Yordi Ramiro / GG: Georg Tichy*

Maestro & Orchestra: Rahbari was assistant to v Karajan at Salzburg, and his mentor's influence can be heard throughout this recording. The chosen tempi are deliberately expansive and require much orchestral color and expressivity. Maestro clearly intended for the orchestra to be a character in the plot, just as much as the protagonists are. However, for the most part, his orchestra is unable to deliver on his concept. While reasonably supportive, the sound simply does not have enough bloom, richness, or sentiment to engage. He does, however, achieve an excellent sense of ensemble in the party scenes, even if the choral singing is on the weak side.

Krause: She delivers a generally conventional heroine, with commendable attempts of specificity and detail. The voice is for the most part attractive, yet the characterization is incomplete. Moreover, the vocals are simply not refulgent, noble, or dramatic enough to touch upon basic middle-Verdi requirements. Hers is an enthusiastic Violetta, with some strained notes, that fails to provoke and move.

Ramiro: Perhaps slightly more able to fulfil the needs of maestro's designs than Krause, his tenor is consistently appealing, while hardly gorgeous. He presents a strangely boastful yet whimpish Alfredo; perhaps more of a Nemorino than an Alfredo. While there is some intelligence in his characterization, there is not much here that is irresistible.

Tichy: He brings much care to the role, and makes valiant attempts to demonstrate some depth of character. The voice, however, was in 1990 still on the light side for major Verdian roles. While purposeful in paternal intent, most of the time, he sounds more like a pleasant Sharpless, than an influential father-figure of Verdian proportions.

Overall: C / C-

Naxos

*1992- Muti- alla Scala Orchestra & Chorus
VV: Tiziana Fabbricini / AG: Roberto Alagna / GG: Paolo Coni*

Maestro & Orchestra: One immediately gets a sense of "eventfulness", having Muti lead a major Italian opera at the major Italian house. His leadership is characteristically in turn pedantic and imaginative, which is perhaps what makes his an interesting interpretation.The alla Scala forces are with him all the way, and offer stylish subtlety, moving dramatic tone, and well judged orchestral phrasing. As so often with Muti, the over-scrutiny of the score can impede intensity and tragic impetus; both important facets of this opera.

Fabbricini: Her sound is comparable to Aliberti's, who we encountered three years earlier. While her instrument is short on beauty and splendor, her characterization is immensely passionate and captivating. She delivers much understanding for the role, from vigour in act I, both imperious tenacity and charged emotional involvement in act II, and atmospheric tragedy in act III. Her dramatic instincts are convincing and she delivers much sumptuous yet detailed singing. There is never indifference in her Violetta and she commands the scenes she is in. The voice does, however, have some odd breaks in it, that can distort her vocal line.

Alagna: While occasionally glossy in mannerism, here the young star-tenor is generally suave in tone, tender in the duets, and exudes romantic charm coupled with virility. His is quite a naively adventurous Alfredo- an idealist, who doesn't really know what he is getting into. He sounds surprised (rather than disgusted) at his own outburst at Flora's, once his father has pointed out his transgression. Clearly, even if she was not so ill, Violetta would be a much too complex long-term partner for this Alfredo. His timbre is undeniably quite beautiful and has a healthy finish to it.

Coni: His baritone is on the youthful side here, and the needed social/generation gap does not quite surface at all times. He generally paces well, but at times some listeners may wish that maestro had allowed him some more latitude in shaping and phrasing in the duet, for the voice is a generous and not unattractive. It's still a compelling performance, sung with considerable style, while at times the potential for expressiveness is reigned in.

Overall: B++ / A-

Sony


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## Dster (Oct 3, 2011)

rgz said:


> I hope we have a fairly liberal timeframe on this; I'll need to read through my copy of La Dame aux Camelias again and also leaf through The Idiot as there's an interesting story about the popularity of that novel in Russia.


I came across this thread late (only join by last week). 

La Traviata is the most popular opera in China. The theme of a beautiful courtesan in love with a young man from a well breed family and their lives together were destroyed by a reactionary father has been covered quite a few times in Chinese literature. Hence the Chinese audience can readily identify with it. It was first staged in China by the Central Experimental Opera in Beijing (known as Peking at the time) on 22 February 1957. Here's a picture of the historical staging


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Nice, Dster, and welcome to the forum.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Is this one just about done? I should like to get reading it and enjoy Traviata a few times while you tireless operatic geniuses get to work writing the next one. :devil:

<------- Wagner-Couchie. More of a jerk than Couchie.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

I've still got an upcoming series on directors' interpretations. A very different approach, so I'm letting Ballo finish her reviews before going ahead with it.


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## FragendeFrau (May 30, 2011)

Welcome Dster!! And thanks so much for the fascinating info about _La Traviata_ in China!


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## Dster (Oct 3, 2011)

I am afraid that is all I can contribute to this project. 

I enjoy the articles which I am taking my time over them. There are so many wonderful contributions. I look forward to my reading sessions.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

No, it's definitely not done. We're waiting for Ballo; when she is done with her excellent contributions, we'll get to amfortas' part. I have not worked on my analysis of the literary sources at all but I fully intend to do so.

This project has no time frame. It is supposed to be complete, thorough, exhaustive. I'd like it to be a major reference for people interested in La Traviata.

But, you know, if schigolch wants to simultaneously fire up the second thread about Die Tote Stadt, I have no objections, since this one is now very advanced already.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Almaviva said:


> But, you know, if schigolch wants to simultaneously fire up the second thread about Die Tote Stadt, I have no objections, since this one is now very advanced already.


ok, will do.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

yeah, of course - I don't think schigolch -or anyone else for that matter- should feel like they need permission or approval to start a new thread

In any case, I've got these still to cover:

Gruberova 1992
Te Kanawa 1993
Studer 1993 
Georghiu 1994
Devia 1997
Netrebko 2005
Harteros 2006


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

BalloinMaschera said:


> yeah, of course - I don't think schigolch -or anyone else for that matter- should feel like they need permission or approval to start a new thread


 Well, we did have an extensive discussion before starting the project, in which we collectively decided that we would proceed one by one, not to dilute the effort, remember? But I think that now that this thread has had several contributions and is proceeding slowly through final touches, it should be OK to simultaneously tackle the next opera.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

I would like to think that if a new member joined today, and started a thread about opera XZY or ABC, we would have the presence of mind to let that thread take flight; we should all be able to multi-task & divide attention to that degree.

If one is not interested in a thread or too busy for a specific thread at a given time, one can either ignore it or revisit it when one's mind is more clear or one is otherwise less busy.

Simple.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

BalloinMaschera said:


> I would like to think that if a new member joined today, and started a thread about opera XZY or ABC, we would have the presence of mind to let that thread take flight; we should all be able to multi-task & divide attention to that degree.
> 
> If one is not interested in a thread or too busy for a specific thread at a given time, one can either ignore it or revisit it when one's mind is more clear or one is otherwise less busy.
> 
> Simple.


I understand your position, but it wasn't the position of the majority of interested members when we discussed this.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

At any rate, the _Tote Stadt_ thread is now underway, so we're good, right?


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

amfortas said:


> At any rate, the _Tote Stadt_ thread is now underway, so we're good, right?


Of course. If people aren't ready for it, they can visit the Korngold thread when they are. I'm all for keeping this forum a hand-holding free zone.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

BalloinMaschera said:


> Of course. If people aren't ready for it, they can visit the Korngold thread when they are. I'm all for keeping this forum a hand-holding free zone.


Ballo, like I said I get your point, but you're seeing this from the perspective of this one thread or that one thread, while I'm thinking of the site as a whole. Traditionally, we've struggled to keep things relatively organized, with no duplication of efforts, sufficient people interested in the running projects so that they're meaningful in terms of minimum number of participants, and so forth. Also, traditionally, we have proceeded by consulting our members about how they wanted to proceed, and generally adopting what the majority of the interested members said.

Sometimes some hand-holding *is* necessary in the larger scheme of things to keep the site running smoothly (as proven by a recent episode of flooding that generated many complaints of several members who wanted some action to limit the multiple threads with similar topics being generated by a few members).

There were times when I wanted simultaneous efforts, but other members stopped me, saying that they preferred one project at a time. There is a difference between individually-started threads and forum-wide projects. The latter are often discussed before implementation and we tend to adopt certain rules to get them going.

Of course nobody needs to ask permission or authorization to start an individual thread, but I'd rather say that large scale projects are best implemented with the involvement and opinion of many members and the moderation team.

The fact that we've welcomed more recently many new and knowledgeable members (among them, yourself, and we thank you for - and appreciate - your contributions) does make it easier to tackle projects simultaneously. But there were times when we had just a handful of members interested in opera and couldn't stretch ourselves too thin.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

From the comfort of our respective homes and/or offices... it's all a bit ambiguous re adopting certain rules... and thankfully, so. 

I just thought it was odd that others felt like they needed to ask permission/approval to start a thread, when clearly they did not- so why did they feel that way?

I am going to assume that it was asked merely as a couse of politeness, which while wonderful is not necessary, and also makes this discussion moot, and in this particular thread, off-topic... ergo, Traviata review shall continue in the next few days, on my part.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Yes, it is a bit off topic (you were the one who raised the point, though) but that's OK because we had said during the discussions that once each thread of the In Depth project is really complete, we'll remove all the parallel chatting and stick the threads so that they become a permanent reference for people interested in those operas. Therefore, this kind of discussion helps in shaping up and defining the project, but they won't ultimately survive permanently so they won't disrupt the final flow of the thread.

When you say people clearly do not need permission/approval, you're absolutely right, as clearly stated, as an example, in our "ground rules" for the sub-forum, from where I'm copying and pasting:

"If you want to start a new thread for a composer who doesn't have his own yet, *you can, *but it would be nice* (although not required)* if you first consulted by PM one of the Opera forum moderators - jhar26 or Almaviva."

[later]

The above rules intend to keep this area organized, but* shouldn't discourage you from posting or starting new threads* - we're friendly folks here, and if we need to move a post or merge a thread, it's just to preserve the "easy searching" character of the sub-forum, and *shouldn't be understood as some sort of reprimand. So, please see these rules as guidelines rather than strict laws*."

I don't see why trying to get things organized and keeping our resources well utilized and not stretched thin is negative in any way. Having a neatly organized forum benefits all members. *This is part of what moderation is supposed to accomplish. *I wonder if your point is some sort of implication that there is heavy-handed moderation. If this is your opinion, you can state it clearly and we'll take your criticism into account - although I don't see it (like I said, these guidelines have traditionally been discussed at large and we've done what members felt was best - even simple points such as renaming the sub-forum are only proposed after consultation - see the current poll). Some of these consultations and discussions have occurred before you joined, so maybe you aren't aware that many of our ground rules are here because we've discussed the issues with members and they endorsed them and/or suggested them. They are not something imposed by the staff, but are rather the expression of the wishes of the majority of interested members.

Again, I don't see anything wrong with having some ground rules that are clearly stated as guidelines for everybody's benefit.

This applies to me as well, like you very well know - when out of my juvenile enthusiasm for Anna Netrebko I started a new thread for her birthday, you told me that in order to keep things organized, I should have rather posted it in the Opera Artist birthday thread. What did I do? I thought 'oops' and immediately merged my thread into that one. Didn't *you* feel at the time that you didn't like the disorganization that my newly started thread caused? You were right, and I obliged immediately. So now I fail to see why you're questioning the same organization guidelines. Somehow I wonder if this is rather a displacement of other issues.

By the way, I just had an idea.
Instead of sticking each thread of the Opera in Depth project, maybe it's best to stick an index thread. Inside it, we'll explain in a few words what the project is and have a hyperlink to each Opera in Depth thread, so that we won't have too many stuck threads clogging the front page, but people will be able to rapidly find each thread. I'll start a new thread about this idea.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

Almaviva said:


> This applies to me as well, like you very well know - when out of my juvenile enthusiasm for Anna Netrebko I started a new thread for her birthday, you told me that in order to keep things organized, I should have rather posted it in the Opera Artist birthday thread. What did I do? I thought 'oops' and immediately merged my thread into that one. Didn't *you* feel at the time that you didn't like the disorganization that my newly started thread caused? You were right, and I obliged immediately. So now I fail to see why you're questioning the same organization guidelines. Somehow I wonder if this is rather a displacement of other issues.


I really didn't mind if there was a new birthday thread; my point at that time, was more in the vein of a moderator disregarding (for whatever reason) his or her own "rule", which I thought was a bit odd.

again- off topic... so back to Traviata soon.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

BalloinMaschera said:


> I really didn't mind if there was a new birthday thread; my point at that time, was more in the vein of a moderator disregarding (for whatever reason) his or her own "rule", which I thought was a bit odd.
> 
> again- off topic... so back to Traviata soon.


Hey, breaking news, hear hear: moderators are fallible human beings! Who would have thought it? I know, with all those bots out there! Maybe someone thought I'm Olympia from The Tales of Hoffmann, disguised as Almaviva.

Again, I think I'm reading this all quite correctly, regarding the displacement.

Enough said on this. Back to La Traviata, like you said.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

With BalloinMachera’s gracious approval, I’m going to start a new series on directors’ interpretations while she finishes the last of her recording reviews.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

*Non-Traditional Stagings of La Traviata*

Verdi intended _La Traviata_ to be not just a musical _divertissement_ but a challenging work of theatre. Going against operatic tradition, he presented a modern-day drama of the Parisian demi-monde, featuring a courtesan who tries to embrace a more conventional life, is thwarted by social stigma, and succumbs to the ravages of tuberculosis.

Nevertheless, despite Verdi's scrupulous intentions, from its very premiere the work has been staged in other than the originally intended mileu. Censors, afraid of the work's topicality, caused the first productions to be set in the safe distance of the early 1700s:



































​
From its initial appearance, then, there has been some question about what constitutes a "traditional" staging of _La Traviata_. Of course, the work has frequently been (and of course is still often to this day) presented in the realistic nineteenth-century setting Verdi envisioned. But more and more, and especially over the last two decades, directors have taken revisionist "regie" approaches to the opera, exploring its themes of sexual commerce, oppressive notoriety, restrictive social conventions, failed love, and stigmatized disease in new and distinctive ways.

The following essays will focus on a variety of non-traditional interpretations from the past twenty years, those where the director has departed in a significant way from a realistic evocation of early nineteenth century Paris-whether by updating, relocating, abstracting, or otherwise removing the action from naturalistic strictures. We will consider the varied interpretive impulses behind these stagings and the possible new light they may shed on Verdi's masterwork.

These essays will differ from previous offerings on this thread in that they will not be a set of reviews, but rather a survey. I haven't seen most of these productions, and most are not available on video. My comments, then, will necessarily be based on descriptions and assessments from secondary sources. Also, the essays won't focus primarily on performers--though there will be mention of their contributions, particularly if they were significant in the initial success (or failure) of the production. But performers will be a secondary concern, since a director's concept and staging is largely independent of particular singers (and in fact a given production will often go through multiple casts over several years, sometimes in different venues).

With those parameters in mind, then, we can begin our survey.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

*1991 - Nicholas Muni, New York City Opera*

Muni's production caused quite a stir by updating the action to a contemporary Manhattan scene. Violetta became a professional escort, with Annina as her secretary and Gastone her manager. Violetta's great aria at the end of Act I was presented not as a private monologue, but as a come-on addressed to the lustful Baron while she undressed. In her second-act scene with Germont, he hinted at a more than paternal affection for her. Flora's party was filled with substance abusers and some light S&M action, and Alfredo threatened the crowd with a gun as he castigated his former love. Most notably, Violetta expired from AIDS in a hospital ward, her poignant death scene punctuated by interns entering with life-support systems. All this action played out on a modern set consisting of steely drapes and a few austere stage objects, suggesting a contemporary decadence.

Peter G. Davis of _New York_ magazine wasn't sold on all of the director's choices: "Some seem forced to fit the concept, others fight with the music, and a few are outright miscalculations." Nevertheless, he singled out Sheryl Wood's commited Violetta, and concluded that the production provided "a fresh appreciation of why Verdi continues to be such a vital and modern-day presence."

Not everyone was so accomodating. The veteran Austrian stage director Wolfgang Weber offered this critique of Muni's production before it even opened: "If you want to make her die of AIDS and living in our own times, then you should rewrite the libretto and get a contemporary composer to write the music." Weber saw the opera as having contemporary relevance even without any updating: "Cannot the audience see that Violetta is dying because nobody takes care of her? As a courtesan, she was queen of society in her time, but at the moment she got sick, society turned away. And then the opera audience goes out of the theater and sees people dying in the streets at their feet. Why do you have to update? It's all there."








[Click on image to enlarge]​
Neverthless, it can be argued that Muni's updating to an AIDS theme has an even more specific relevance. As the publicist for a more recent production of the opera has written, "Consumption was in many ways the AIDS of the 19th century - a wasting disease that ravaged promising young lives, including a generation of artists." Similarly, Susan Sontag, in _AIDs and Its Metaphors_ (1989) argues, as one opera blogger summarizes, that "tuberculosis exerted a similar mythological hold on the cultural imagination in the 19th century as AIDS and cancer exerted over the 20th."

Of course, the parallel between the two diseases is not exact, and Sontag does point out differences in the perceptions surrounding them. As Meera Seth says in her review of the book, "tuberculosis was often viewed as a positive enrichment of one's character . . . on the other hand, only negative metaphors and connotations have been ascribed to cancer and AIDS. It is the AIDS patient who faces the worst fate, as he is viewed not as a victim, but rather a pariah."

But perhaps this historical distinction does not apply so much to _La Traviata_. After all, as the opera's very title indicates, Violetta is a "fallen one," not just the victim of her disease, but of the capricious lifestyle that exacerbates it. Similarly, in that first decade of its appearance, AIDS still carried the stigma of being not only a "gay disease," but also one associated with permissive sexuality. To that extent, the analogy with Violetta Valery may not be so tenuous.

In fact, the connection between _La Traviata_ and the trials of the gay lifestyle had been in the air for some time before Muni's production. Two years earlier came the New York opening of Terrence McNally's play _The Lisbon Traviata_, concerning a troubled gay relationship and one partner's love of the diva Maria Callas. Though the text barely mentions AIDS, its spectre hangs over the characters. As David Roman says of the play in his book _Acts of Intervention: Performance, Gay Culture, and AIDS_, "AIDS informs the reality of its protagonists as a shadow that threatens to intercede at any moment; it is the woeful component underlying the play's tragic capabilities. Like Violetta's consumption in Verdi's _La Traviata_, AIDS in _The Lisbon Traviata_ provides the means by which all opera's grand denouments can be realized. Both _Traviatas_ are, after all, about love."

Two years after Muni's production came a film that gained wide popular acclaim, Jonathan Demme's _Philadelphia_. Here again, the sufferings of gay men scourged by AIDS was given a passionate outcry through opera and the voice of Maria Callas (though not in this case singing Verdi).

In this respect, then, Muni's staging of _La Traviata_ through the lens of the AIDS crisis, even if an imperfect analogy, proved timely-a production that was lent a powerful urgency by relating Verdi's drama to a specific, deeply felt issue of the day.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

_"If you want to make her die of AIDS and living in our own times, then you should rewrite the libretto and get a contemporary composer to write the music."_

I tend to agree (most of the time) with this stance.

In a similar vein, contemporary composer Mark Adamo said about this production (I think it was this production, but maybe he was just talking in general terms with an example):

_Isn't it time, for example, to entertain the notion that the best way for opera to face today's world is not to impale Violetta Valéry with a dirty syringe and dump her on the Lower East Side or in Brixton - all while Verdi's 19th-century orchestra flails away - but to commission a new Camille from, say, Kaija Saariaho?

Commissioning that new piece then frees a director to stage La traviata as written: in the 18th century (or, arguably, in the 19th, as Verdi had planned to set it in his own time but was forbidden by censors to do so). In other words, isn't it time for artists and opera companies to intelligently distinguish between their creative and their curatorial responsibilities? 
_

Waiting for this exciting _Camille_ by Saariaho, I think we need to be very careful with staging pieces like _La Traviata_. Because we can easily destroy the magic carefully crafted by Verdi, doing something against the text and the music.

For instance, this Muni production. I haven't watched it, so just going for what amfortas is describing in his post.

Violetta becoming a professional escort, it's ok. After all, she is already a professional escort of sorts. AIDS in lieu of consumption it's ok too, and relevant to people living in 1991. The " come-on addressed to the lustful Baron" seems inspired enough, but making Germont père interested sexually in Violetta, it's a mistake, because there is not a single hint of this in the original Traviata. And this is the most difficult thing to tackle when moving the opera to modern times: what is the motivation of the actions of Giorgio Germont, and Violetta's sacrifice for the young Germont girl?.

All in all, it looks like an interesting staging, nonetheless.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Wow. I'm speechless. This thread gathers so much expertise and so many outstanding contributions, that we should collectively publish it as an essay on Verdi's La Traviata. I don't think there are too many venues out there in the Internet with this much easily accessible quality info/analysis. This thread, outside of scholarly treaties, is surely one of the best online reference sources for people willing to learn more about this masterpiece.

Bravo, esteemed TC Opera Forum members!


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

schigolch said:


> _I think we need to be very careful with staging pieces like La Traviata. Because we can easily destroy the magic carefully crafted by Verdi, doing something against the text and the music._


_

Schigolch, we don't always look at the director's role in exactly the same way, but I wanted to thank you for your intelligent and judicious post. As we will see, in recent years directors have approached La Traviata in very distinctive ways, and I look forward to reading your responses._


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

*1991 - Axel Corti, Frankfurt Opera*

In the same year as Muni's New York production, across the Atlantic the Austrian writer and film director Axel Corti offered his own updated version of _La Traviata_. According to the Frankfurt Opera website, Corti held that "it was not necessary to stage the work in the 19th century because the opera, maybe more than any other, has a relevance to every age, a relevance which during the history of performing the work since it was written was often denied."

While maintaining Verdi's original location, Corti drew upon his own childhood experience to set the story in the Nazi-occupied Paris of the early 1940s. This shift presents some problems, as Corti acknowledges: "Courtesans have died out, it is true." But in this updated version, "his Violetta is rejected by society for a completely different reason. She is Jewish, and at a time when deceptive safety could quickly turn into terrible danger." Along with her physical disease, then, there is a growing external threat, so that ultimately Violetta does not die in bed, but rather on the floor of the second-class waiting room in the railroad station in Orléans while trying to flee from the Nazis.


























​
Unfortunately, it is difficult to find further information about the production. It would be intriguing to have more details about how the concept is carried out, since on the surface it might seem an unlikely premise--more _The Diary of Anne Frank_ than _La Traviata_.

Apparently, though, the approach is quite successful, since the production has been extremely popular. Corti's staging has been in the company repertoire for twenty years and has been revived twelve times. The most recent incarnation opened on October 8th of this year to celebrate the production's 100th performance.


























It is also interesting that Corti's approach should achieve such popularity in Frankfurt, in the heart of Germany. In this staging, it seems, Violetta's tragedy has become bound up with the ongoing national expiation for the sins of the past.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

This one I know, having watched it... at Frankfurt, of all places, and just a couple of years ago. 

I guess you are aware that Germany is the paradise for regie theater, and Frankfurt is not an exception to this rule.

In Frankfurt there are two Opera houses, the Alte Oper is used now mainly for concerts and many performances are in the new building at Willy Brandt Platz, that is functional, nice but rather cold. 

Most people already knew the staging, and commented in the foyer about it, is part of a small tradition, having been in circulation and often restaged for the last twenty years.

Moving the story to the Paris occupied by the German Army... let's say it works. At least is not detrimental, though incorporating nazis into Traviata is something of a cliché now; perhaps you will also review Pier Luigi Pizzi's production later in the thread.

Violetta's dying in the second-class waiting room in the railroad station... it's a moving moment. The real problem is the police asking for passports while Alfredo and Violetta are singing 'Parigi, o cara' and a dog bark is ruining the effect. Or an annoying siren sounding always in the worst moments. Or replacing the gipsies and bullfighters by other "spanish" spectacle: Gigantes and Cabezudos. Or, more importantly, making the relations between the characters almost unintelligible...

In my view, this is a rather poor staging.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

schigolch said:


> This one I know, having watched it... at Frankfurt, of all places, and just a couple of years ago.


LOL. Yes, I'm counting on you to have more inside information about many of these productions. I only wish I'd had a chance to see more of them myself.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

*1994 - Harry Kupfer, Komische Oper Berlin*

Famed director Harry Kupfer had put off attempting _La Traviata_, largely because he was waiting until he found the right Violetta. He did so at last in the person of the young Swiss soprano Noëmi Nadelmann, who was not only beautiful, but possessed a fine voice and technique along with considerable acting skills. Her presence enabled to Kupfer to build a dark, austere production around her. According to reviewer Della Couling, "Without destroying the pathos, Kupfer has stripped off the sugary coating generally applied to productions of this opera."

Couling gives an evocative description of the opening moments: "As the overture begins, we see a huge black tunnel running diagonally across the stage and out over the pit. A shrouded figure in white has her back to us. She turns as the overture ends, and we see a beautiful, sad face. At those first feverish bars, she throws off her cloak: most of the far wall of the tunnel is revealed to be a row of doors with mirrored backs, which swing open and spill out Violetta's guests, a nightmarish crowd of painted women and conspicuously wealthy men in evening dress."

Once the guests depart, Violetta is alone once again in the tunnel. At the end of the act, the stage revolves slightly, and the doors at the rear open to reveal the brightly-lit country garden of Act II. Less information is available about this section of the opera, since apparently the final act was the production's most memorable.

In that last scene, Violetta is alone in the tunnel once more. As she dies, she hallucinates, losing her grip on sanity. Annina is dressed as a nurse or prison guard, while the return of Alfredo and Germont is nothing more than an illusion. Neither of them enter the tunnel where Violetta lies dying. As the doors swing open once more, Alfredo appears mirrored many times, with the second-act country garden behind him.

Nadelmann has brief lucid moments where she is able to mock the illusory happy ending, giving a cynical toss of her head as she asks Alfredo to give her portrait to whomever he will marry; at the same time, we see a dumb show of this bourgeois wedding through the open doors. In the final moments, even this comforting delusion forsakes her, and Violetta is left alone to die in the gutter.

As the photos below suggest, this pared-down production relied, perhaps more than most, on the commanding presence of its female lead.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

*1999 - Götz Friedrich, Deutsche Oper Berlin*

This production, one of the last works by the great German stage director Götz Friedrich before his death in 2000, has been a staple of the Deutsche Oper Berlin for over a decade. With nearly 100 performances, it has served as a vehicle for such notable Violettas as Patricia Ciofi and Anja Harteros.

Friedrich gave the opera an eclectic updating, with costumes ranging over the entire twentieth century. The set throughout the drama was a single all-black room; this underwent minimal changes from one scene to another, though the high doors on the side and back walls opened at several points to reveal background action. The most significant set piece was Violetta's downstage deathbed, which assumed various shapes and functions as she flashed back over her past. As the company website proclaims, "By presenting Violetta's tribulations in the form of a retrospective narrative, Götz Friedrich has given his tragedy the atmosphere of a requiem."

During the prelude, Violetta, all in white, lay pallid and still on her white bed, bathed in a spotlight while the dark set surrounded her like a huge tomb. As the party music began, she sprang to life and donned a vibrant red robe. The bed became a divan, the Parisian crowd poured in, and the flashback began.










In Act II, Violetta wore a more domestic yellow dress. The spare stage looked little like a luxurious country home, though the doors at the back opened to reveal a few trees. Germont arrived accompanied by his daughter, who remained in the back, a silent presence nervously walking back and forth as her father pleaded with Violetta on her behalf. It was a novel idea to show the young woman, though at least one reviewer found that the actress chosen "was much too childish to be credible."










In the party scene, Violetta wore a more innocent white, with her hair primly pulled back. The action was full of various entertaining gags, though a chorus of bohemians and bullfighters substituted for the usual dancers.










After the party scene, the humiliated Violetta removed the red cover from the divan to reveal her white hospital bed. Her financial, physical, and spiritual ruin was reflected in the decaying set, with unhinged doors and broken shutters looking, as one reviewer put it, "as if a typhoon had visited the place." The offstage carnival chorus appeared as colorful fireworks and three nightmarish giant figures in festive dress but with death's heads. In this stark setting, Violetta acted out the sad fate that had been foreshadowed from the beginning.



















The production has received mixed reviews over the years. Many point out that the flashback idea is hardly original, having already been employed, for example, in Zeffirelli's famous film. Others maintained that the bare set and eclectic costuming lacked a striking, coherent vision. While one reviewer felt that the production was "full of insights and observations" and "has you completely engrossed from beginning to end," another concluded that, "all in all, this added up to just one more _Traviata_."


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

the Götz Friedrich is not a bad one. However, when I saw it about 5 years ago (I am guessing) with Elizabeth Futral, the production sets seemed a bit worn and needed some sprucing up. It all seemed a bit too "old hat"; which, I guess it is...


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

*1991- Rizzi- London Symphony Orchestra & Ambrosian Singers*

*Maestro & Orchestra:* The recording follows a successful run of Traviata at la Fenice, with the same protagonists. For the recording, however, the LSO was contracted. The band is led by Rizzi with considerable adroitness. Not surprisingly, the LSO being a symphonic band, plays with much discipline and atmospheric tension. There is perhaps just a touch of coolness; it is difficult to tell if this was intentional. The tempi Rizzi chooses are all sensible and the conducting is done with much care.

*Gruberova:* Here we have again a singer who in many ways could be an ideal Violetta. The technique was in 1991 assured and the coloratura of act I comes with astonishing ease (and almost free of scooping that later became a habit). Hers is a sophisticated heroine, who works hard to balance the grandeur of the role with the intimacy of the situations the character finds herself in. There is perhaps a tendency to fabricate singular detached emotions rather than to allow a vibrant emotional voyage that moves along organically within the plot. There are so many whispered, piano, and aurally opaque moments, that to some listeners these might become tiresome. While her vocal aptitude and facility can hardly be faulted and there are many beautiful and appropriately tragic and commanding moments, Gruberova is not a born-Verdian, there is quite a bit of Bellini's Giulietta in this courtesan.

*Schicoff: *This Alfredo is very healthy sounding and delivers both warmth and some masculinity. Generally, it's quite a gentlemanly characterization, perhaps a bit too studious at times. The sound is attractive with a slight intermittent pinch. There is an intrinsic genuineness to his voice that is quite endearing. The ardent moments of Alfredo's do not elude him; his contribution is a success.

*Zancanaro:* Sincere, moving and with a voice that fills all the requirements of the pivotal paternal figure, Zancanaro delivers an excellent Germont. He is in very fine voice here, with a true Italian sound, and a characterization that ranges from nobility, benevolence, and remorse to authority, vigilance, and decisiveness. There are a few times, that one might want for more grandeur, where he attempts to match Gruberova's synthetic detail. This is a minor quibble though, as his performance is marvelous.

Honorable mention: Monica Bacelli's Annina

Overall: B+


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## Dster (Oct 3, 2011)

I have the DVD of this performance. It is the favorite among my La Traviata DVD collection. I like way Alfredo was protrayed by Schicoff (in a kind of nervous excitment) in the first act when he was first introduced to Violetta. The colour and dancing are both vibrant. I love this better than the 1994 ROH Solti version. As for Gruberova's scooping, I found it quite exciting when she goes into a high note in one single scoop rather than by increment.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

*2003 - Calixto Bieito, Hannover Staatsoper*

Catalan bad boy Calixto Beito was hired to bring new life to Hannover Staatsoper. His highly controversial productions of _Il Trovatore_ and _Don Giovanni_ drove audiences away, but his third effort, _La Traviata_, won critical and popular praise. This may have been in part because of what reviewer Jochen Breiholz called "the director's talent for carving totally credible real-life characters. Each gesture, glance and movement had the precision and perception of a brilliant dramatic film." But it also may have been because the company's intendent reigned in some of Bieito's more outrageous choices.

For all his frequent liberties, Bieito sees himself as honoring the true intention behind the text. As he said in an interview, "With La Traviata, Verdi made a clear argument in favor of women. He wanted to give a second chance to explain the story of a prostitute whom society cannot truly love, while making a scathing attack on the bourgeois double standards of the time. He made it through the lens of melodrama, which was what was fashionable at the time. I do it from my own contemporaneity . . . That is why my version of Violetta has nothing to do with a prostitute who ends up dying of consumption. She's a strong, independent women, like Ridley Scott's _Thelma and Louise_."

Bieito also used Heidi Fleiss, the infamous Hollywood Madam, as a model in making Violetta a modern prostitute and hard-headed businesswoman. As Breiholz said of Bieito's concept, "His Traviata unfolded like an unsparing, sexually explicit documentary, or a sociological tract about an exploited woman who fights back."








​
In Bieito's version, Violetta lived in a stylish white duplex, with a bar downstairs and a bed upstairs, where guests paraded around decked out in thongs, low-cut corsets, and black stockings while party music was played by a jazz band. Natalia Ushakova's Violetta spent most of the evening wearing sexy lingerie, doing provocative pole dances, and entertaining her guests with erotic videos of herself.

One noteworty change was the merging of Annina and Flora into a single character who served as Violetta's friend, manager, and possibly lover (one reviewer was reminded of the Countess Geschwitz from Berg's _Lulu_). This figure was an almost constant presence onstage, becaming even more prominent by appropriating Alfredo''s Act II cabaletta "O mio rimorso" and the Gypsy chorus. Breiholz predictably felt that this newly created character "did add interest to the proceedings but took the focus off Violetta - and her expanded role had little to do with the composer's intentions."

In this cynical world where money predominated, Alfredo's father became a sadistic regular customer of Violetta, raping her to show that she was nothing more than a commodity to him.

Perhaps most radically, in the final scene of the opera Violetta was perfectly healthy, staging her death simply to get rid of Alfredo and run off with her lesbian lover. At the end the two women were seen with suitcases and plane tickets in hand as they waved little Brazilian flags, apparently on their way to Rio. As Breiholz remarked, "This heroine refused to accept the role of victim."


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Eurotrash. 

Mr. Bieito explains this very well:

_With La Traviata, Verdi made a clear argument in favor of women. He wanted to give a second chance to explain the story of a prostitute whom society cannot truly love, while making a scathing attack on the bourgeois double standards of the time. He made it through the lens of melodrama, which was what was fashionable at the time. I do it from my own contemporaneity . . . That is why my version of Violetta has nothing to do with a prostitute who ends up dying of consumption. She's a strong, independent women, like Ridley Scott's Thelma and Louise._

Of course Violetta has nothing to do with Thelma. Not even with Louise. But the root of the problem here is when Mr. Bieito's flatly states: I do it from my own ... my version of Violetta.

He couldn't care less about the real story of Piave and Verdi, he is just interested in telling us about his own visions, his personal obsessions. Instead of helping the audience to understand better the opera or to illuminate some aspect of _Traviata_, he just prefer to betray this audience, and stage something totally divorced from the text and the music.

Occasionally, other Bieito's stagings are more succesful, like in _Wozzeck_, but this one is just a piece of .... Eurotrash.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Not having seen this production, I can't say for sure how I would have reacted to it. Bieito definitely allows himself a great deal of license, and takes a frankly critical stance toward many cherished operatic traditions. But in principle, at least, I'm not opposed to a director turning an opera into a radically different sort of theatre piece--as long as I know what to expect going in.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

The problem here is not Mr. Bieito's licenses, or his stance to the operatic tradition.

The problem is that there is a text and there is a music. You can do a lot of things going along with the text and the music. But if you stage something like that _Traviata_, is just cheating (Piave, Verdi, the audience) in a monumental scale. This means to sacrifice in the altar of a regista's whim, a piece of art.

I can move _Traviata_ to Japan, at the times of the Tokugawa shogunate. I can move it to the Athens of Pericles. I can even place the action in an asteroid of the Belt, among the miners of the 23th century. And in the process, I can underline some aspect of the opera, I can subtly enhance this or that facet of Violetta, and respect the story, and the music.

Or I can just lie, like Mr. Bieito.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

I think the concept is interesting. But interesting doesn't necessarily mean likeable. It's a bit too farcical, I guess, to be more than interesting. Productions that are merely interesting, are most often on the weak side.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

schigolch said:


> The problem here is not Mr. Bieito's licenses, or his stance to the operatic tradition.
> 
> The problem is that there is a text and there is a music. You can do a lot of things going along with the text and the music. But if you stage something like that _Traviata_, is just cheating (Piave, Verdi, the audience) in a monumental scale. This means to sacrifice in the altar of a regista's whim, a piece of art.
> 
> ...


You do realize, though, that many people would cringe in horror at the very idea of setting _La Traviata_ in the Tokugawa shogunate, Periclean Athens, a twenty-third-century asteroid belt, or anywhere other than a realistic nineteenth-century Paris. For these opera lovers, any departure from an entirely traditional production is "cheating" on a "monumental scale."

Each of us draws our own line in the sand as to what is permissible for a director and what is not. The one thing we all have in common is the firm belief that other people draw their lines in the wrong place.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

To a traditionalist, even a 19th century Paris will be unacceptable, as he will demand a 18th century Paris. 

But I'm sure many of the 'traditionalist' people can enjoy a Tokugawa Shogunate staging, if done with gusto and rigour. In fact, I think this displacement could work very well for other operas, like _Tännhauser_, for instance.

It's not a matter of drawing lines, but of simply doing things against the music and the libretto. Inventing an ending, divorced from what we are hearing, to start with. Or making the motives of the characters completely unfathomable. This is what happens in Mr. Bieito's staging. That's why it's a failure. When Germont _père_ rapes Violetta, this makes impossible to understand what's coming next. To get Violetta singing "Addio del Passato" while cheating Alfredo, is ultimately cheating the audience too. And cheating Verdi. If Violetta is not going to die, but is simply tricking Alfredo and going away with a female lover... Come on, this is worthy of just a high school prance (barely), not a professional staging. 

Outside Germany, as stated before the paradise of the Regietheater, I found difficult to believe that this staging could be a success anywhere else. In fact, if my recollection is correct, it has never been staged beyond the Federal Republic boundaries, unlike other Bieito's works.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

My opinion on this: Mr. Bieito ought to be shot. Enough said.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Almaviva said:


> My opinion on this: Mr. Bieito ought to be shot. Enough said.


As I said, I haven't seen Bieito's _Traviata_ (I gather that none of us have). But apparently it did garner some critical and popular praise (at least in comparison to his previous stagings at that same house). And many people continue to find Bieito's work intriguing, in spite (or because) of his departures from the original texts.

Since I wouldn't want to deny them that experience, I hope we don't shoot Mr. Bieito just yet.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> My opinion on this: Mr. Bieito ought to be shot. Enough said.


I find Bieito's productions very fascinating, although not always as logical as I want them. I found his recent Fidelio both fascinating and perplexing, but that might come from not knowing the opera at all.

And what's with all the sudden hate for Regietheater?


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Aksel said:


> I find Bieito's productions very fascinating, although not always as logical as I want them. I found his recent Fidelio both fascinating and perplexing, but that might come from not knowing the opera at all.
> 
> And what's with all the sudden hate for Regietheater?


I don't mind certain Regie productions but I profoundly despise changed endings and such. Maybe it happened before you joined, but some here may remember my fit of rage when the Copenhagen Ring changed the ending of Götterdämerung with a pregnant Brünnhilde and a baby being born at the end. I find this ending with Violetta surviving and faking her death entirely and completely outrageous. You know that I like La Traviata a lot, and for me, doing this to an outstanding Verdi masterpiece is repulsive. Mr. Bieito needs to understand that he is most definitely not someone with the same stature of Giuseppe Verdi, and should show some respect.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I wouldn't go as far as to say it's repulsive, but certainly I think it's just plain wrong. Eurotrash at its worst.

I haven't got the opportunity to watch this particular _Traviata_ production, but there was a big debate when it was staged, and some friends of mine did watched it, and then commented their views in a wider circle of fans, some years ago.

Certainly, I have watched in the theater other Mr. Bieito's stagings. I even enjoyed a couple of them, like _Carmen_ and _Wozzeck_. But his contacts with Italian _melodramma_ have been really dismal, in my opinion.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

I can't say that I am particularly fond of Bieito's concepts, either. 

However, I don't think anyone should be shot for being creative and/or controversial. As a matter of fact I can think of far far worse things one could do, and still not deserve to be shot. That's harsh, and to me and perhaps also to others, quite crass, even if such a comment is caused by passionate opinionating, and perhaps also delivered with a hint of jest. Well judged, it is not. 

Shoot me if I'm incorrect, why not?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Let's drink a toast to Mr. Bieito and go ahead with the thread:


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

Yes, let's do that - before I get murdered.

Cheers, Prost, Cin Cin, and (for Mr Bieito) Salud!


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## Dster (Oct 3, 2011)

amfortas said:


> You do realize, though, that many people would cringe in horror at the very idea of setting _La Traviata_ in the Tokugawa shogunate


I think setting La Traviata in the Tokugawa period is a great idea. It will appeal to the Asiatic audience. I love to see a La Traviata set in the late 19th - early 20th century China because the story dealt with the kind of preudice prevalant at the time. It has real and significant social relevance. That is why La Traviata is so popular in China to the extent that people who know nothing about opera will have heard of the name which in Chinese is translated as 'The Camellia Girl'.

The problem with people like Bieito is that they think that standing the story on its head is creative. Their favorite technique is shock. The problem with shock is that it dulls the senses. The second time round the dosage will have to increase to have the same effect. He has turned something that is profound and beautiful into something that is crasse and urgy. What I cannot understand is their obsession with the sexuality of the principle character. Why turn them into a gay or lesbian when there is absolutely no reason for so doing? If I have my way, I will bore a hole into the centre of the earth and push these people into it. And if anyone say that is the ranting of a reactionary old fool, I will gladly accept the appellation


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

Shock value and creativity are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Creativity (even the kind that may be shocking to some) that makes us humans react, think, discuss, assess...why, that is not a bad thing.

Boring a hole into the centre of the earth and pushing people into it, why that would indeed be shocking, with little creativity to show for.


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## Dster (Oct 3, 2011)

It takes a lot of technology and hard work to bore a hole to the centre of the earth. No creativity?


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Again, I haven't seen this production. Based solely on the director's interview comments and some second-hand descriptions, I think Bieito was trying to suggest that being a courtesan--essentially a high-class prostitute--is never a pretty or sentimental experience, in any period. For women who are sexually enthralled to men, it might be understandable that their closest emotional attachments would be to one another, and that the only victory they could achieve would be in opposition to the men who exploit them.

It's true that this innovation departs significantly from the story of _La Dame aux Camélias/La Traviata_ as conceived by Duma _fils_, Piave, and Verdi. But for better or worse, Bieito is less concerned with maintaining what he sees as a sentimental, melodramatic plot outline and more with exploring the underlying social issues of the story--even if that means changing key aspects of the story itself to make it, in his view, more truthful.

Granted, it's not what we usually think of as the director's role. Some may feel that such liberties are out of bounds under any circumstances. Some may accept such license in principle but would prefer that such a production be called something other than Verdi's _La Traviata_. Some may have no problem with this kind of artistic freedom but still not be persuaded by Bieito's specific choices. And some, apparently, have found his production to be a compelling, thought-provoking piece of theatre.

At any rate, the good news is that Verdi's original survives unscathed--at least until the next production. Speaking of which, I will try to add another essay to this thread soon. Sorry to proceed so slowly, but I've suddenly found myself very busy. Now I know how Ballo feels!


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Amfortas, that's all fine, but I'd like Mr. Bieito to write his own opera then, and leave Verdi's and Piave's _La Traviata _alone.
As for my "ought to be shot" I'm quite surprised that someone would take this seriously. As a matter of clarification, I can assure you all that I've never killed anything bigger than flies and cockroaches (I've killed some bacteria when I prescribed antibiotics to my patients), and I have no intention of going beyond that in my killings. Next, someone will think that I do control small nuclear devices when I threaten Anna detractors with them. [Alma rolls eyes]


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

*2003 - Peter Mussbach, Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Berlin) / Festival d'Aix-en-Provence*

This co-production appeared in the same year in both Berlin (with Christine Schäfer as Violetta) and Aix-en-Provence (with Mireille Delunsch). Describing his concept, director Peter Mussbach said of the opera, "This is the story of a dying woman. It is written as such. This is what it tells. During the performance, this woman dies before our eyes, in what is practically a live event." For Mussbach, Violetta's death was the overpowering reality, so that her life could seen as if it were "already a memory. A sort of virtual image . . . The images of a life that may now only be seen through the perspective of a rear-view mirror." In this production, then, the action was drained of almost all signs of vitality, so that Violetta's story could be presented as one long extended death scene.

Violetta never left the stage throughout the entire performance, which was given without intermissions. Spending much of her time huddled on the floor, she appeared dressed in a white gown, perhaps a wedding dress, which gave off an eerie glow, sometimes making her look as if she were suspended mid-air. Her blonde hair gave her more than a passing resemblance to Marilyn Monroe, heightening the sense of impending doom. She was pale and ghostly, drained of all life, more a wraith or specter than a living being.

Around her was nothing but a bare stage, except for a few chairs and water dripping on clear plastic curtains that divided the front and back areas. Neon stripes made the stage floor appear to be a strip of highway, while lazers and projections at times superimposed film footage of a tunnel or city bridge glowing in the dark. The audience traveled with Violetta through the dark night along a highway to death, with no bright spot anywhere on the inexorable journey. As the Mostly Opera reviewer put it, "the contrast between Verdi´s music and this sickly atmosphere is astonishing."












































The Aix-en-Provence staging is available on DVD. Opera News called it one of the best opera DVDs of 2007, but viewers' reactions--to the production itself and to Mireille Delunsch's Violetta--have gone to both extremes.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

^Well, this one does seem intriguing. Which goes to say that I don't _a priori _dislike every Regie production. But like I said, I hate changed endings, apparently not the case here.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

The real problem here, of course, is the dismal quality of Ms. Delunsch's singing, perfectly (and cruelly) exposed in the youtube linked by member amfortas. It's impossible to concentrate in..., nay, it's impossible to even perceive any details of the staging.

In this fragment your ears will not be assaulted... well, at least not with such determination. The civility of the audience is impeccable.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

I didn't click on the youtubes, I was just talking about the staging concept. An incompetent singer is not the fault of the stage director. Similarly, the Valencia Ring has very interesting staging but mediocre singers in many parts.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

I thought of using that "Addio del passato" clip, since it does show Ms. Delunsch to better advantage. But the "Sempre libera" gives a little better indication of the staging, which is the focus of my essays.

Even though the director is not responsible for the quality of the singer, the latter can have a great effect on how well the production is received. I wonder if the DVD of Mussbach's staging would have been a more unqualified success if they had filmed the Berlin version with Christine Schäfer--who was apparently a very good Violetta.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I doubt it... Somewhat better, yes. An unqualified success, never.

Here we can hear to Ms. Schäfer's Violetta.






Ms. Delunsch is not a bad singer (I love for instance her rendition of the Governess, in _The Turn of The Screw_), and Ms. Schäfer is actually a very good one (her Lulu was one for the ages), but they can't sing Violetta. They don't have the voice, nor the 'verdian' feeling for this. Nothing too wrong with that, anyway. They are not the first, nor will be the last, sopranos to tackle this role without having the right tools to really be a good Violetta.

Coming back to amfortas's point, I think Mr. Mussbach's staging is good enough, and would have been an unqualified success with Ms. Gheorghiu, Ms. Netrebko or even Ms. Mula singing Violetta.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

_Likely Impossibilities_ has an interesting article about theatre vs opera directors. Since it refers to a particular musical moment in La Traviata I thought I'd post it here:

"Opera isn't Theatre"


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> _Likely Impossibilities_ has an interesting article about theatre vs opera directors. Since it refers to a particular musical moment in La Traviata I thought I'd post it here:
> 
> "Opera isn't Theatre"


Beat me to it - am just reading it now. Very interesting.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

I can't believe it! All my posts about the source - La Dame aux Camélias - have disappeared. I suppose it has to do with the crash. I have no desire to write it all up again, and no time to do it. Darn!

For those who thought I was joking: it is true. Schigolch was able to read the posts and commented upon them. Frederik Magle said he'll write to the hosting company and see if he can get access to the files, but believes it's a long shot. It does look like they're lost forever.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I'm sorry, but it seems everything written after November, 13th, is lost. So, if you don't get a copy of your work, I'm afraid either you write it again, or we will never get it back to the thread. 

On the other hand, this incident has given me an idea for a _La Traviata_ staging... Need to work a little bit on it to check if it will work.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> She rapidly insists again on the power of enjoyment in a rapid succession of coloraturas that almost suggest a masturbatory orgasm. Her declaration of independence brings the act to a close with a stunning penultimate E-flat above a high C. [/B].


Unless Anna Netrebko is singing it. What stunning penultimate E-flat?

Yeah, Netrebko sucks.


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