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OperaUK, March 2008 |
JOHN ALLISON |
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La traviata
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Royal Opera at Covent Garden, January 17 and
29 |
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Having
won most critical hearts and minds on the first night of the Royal Opera’s
revival, Anna Netrebko succumbed to bronchitis, leaving a swarm of
disgruntled patrons in the foyers before the start of the second night.
She was not to return until her last two scheduled performances, but
Covent Garden moved swiftly to supply an excellent replacement in Ermonela
Jaho. The Albanian soprano was understandably cautious at first, and
nerves perhaps accounted for a slight wobble in the middle of her voice
initially, but she quickly warmed to her task and delivered smooth,
cultivated singing. Floating beautiful lines in Acts 2 and 3, she
portrayed a sincere and vulnerable woman— more moving than some of the
officially cast Violettas to have occupied this production. The
performance was also distinguished by Jonas Kaufmann’s intelligently sung
and acted Alfredo: dark-toned rather than thrillingly Italianate, but
musically rewarding, he made a more than usually introverted and brooding
lover. Bringing his trademark seamless line to ‘Di Provenza’. Dmitry
Hvorostovsky was a smug and self-satisfied Germont, and really rather
boring. He did seem to want to move the tempos along, though, and was
largely resisted by Maurizio Benini, who managed a more lively account of
the score on January 29. Among the smaller parts, the Jette Parker Young
Artists Monika-Evelin Liiv and Ji-Min Park made positive contributions as
Flora and Gastone.
Netrebko’s return to health signalled an exciting performance: she
certainly enlivened the Richard Eyre production (revived by Patrick
Young), and is the first Violetta not to do the staging’s final ‘lap of
honour’. Her death scene was stronger for it, free of generalized
histrionics, yet it was not the most affecting. The Russian diva’s
previous appearances at Covent Garden have been in lighter roles
(Servilia, Donna Anna and Gilda), and it was very noticeable that her
voice has grown bigger; Tosca can’t be far off. She sang her heart out,
supplying plenty of colour and temperament. Her coloratura was fearless,
though not immaculate. A starry performer, but not a truly great Violetta,
she lacks the aura that Angela Gheorghiu had when the production was new
back in 1994. This time, Hvorostovsky called in sick, and was replaced by
Andrzej Dobber (Glyndebourne’s Macbeth last summer). The Polish baritone
has a fine voice, if not as smooth as that of his Russian colleague, but
he was far more involved in Germont’s character, projecting his anguish in
a way that changed the dynamic of the performance. I hope the audience
appreciated him: it can’t be easy to make a Covent Garden debut when
everyone has come for Netrebko.
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