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The Stage, 16 January 2008 |
George Hall |
Verdi: La traviata, Royal Opera House, 14 January 2008
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La Traviata
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A three-star line-up leads the
first of two casts in the Royal Opera’s current revival of Verdi’s popular
classic. |
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One of the most feted singers of today, Russian
soprano Anna Netrebko looks a dream as the doomed courtesan and her voice is
surpassingly lovely, but she’s occasionally careless about singing the
precise notes Verdi wrote - there’s a tendency to cut difficult corners.
She’s also not yet giving us a view of her character from inside and
rarely touches the heart.
Which her colleague, German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, regularly does with his
gauche, impetuous young lover Alfredo. Kaufmann shows the odd sign of a cold
- he coughs more than consumptive Violetta - but despite that his singing is
invariably poised and elegant. This is another outstanding performance from
the finest German lyric tenor in decades.
Best of all is the deeply considered and magnificently sung Germont of
Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, now in his absolute vocal prime and
giving a dramatic reading which exposes the uncomfortable fact that
Germont’s appeal to Violetta is harsh but not unrealistic.
The smaller roles are decently done, with Sarah Pring making more of
Violetta’s maid Annina than usual, without pushing herself unduly into the
limelight. Patrick Young has done a good job in giving Richard Eyre’s 1994
staging solid credibility, but the sets, as before, are less than
distinguished. Solid conducting too from Maurizio Benini, which is on the
right side of routine. |
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