I must confess, I did not have the highest of expectations for this revival of "La Traviata". The Royal Opera have been wheeling out various casts over an epic run of performances and the combination of Ermonela Jaho (who replaced Anna Netrebko in this role a few years ago), Stephen Costello and Paolo Gavanelli looked on paper to be a good, not great, bit of casting. How wrong I was. A remarkable night of singing.
The Richard Eyre production has never looked anything less than brilliant. The sets whilst geographically questionable, Act I looks like a cross between a mausoleum and Minas Tirith, evoke the perfect atmosphere and compress and expand the action as needed to serve both the intimate and large-scale scenes. It has been serviceably revived here though I'd be lying if I said it was as polished as it has been in previous runs. The acting from all was broader than it should be and the chorus looked oddly unsure considering they've been doing this more or less continuously for the last three months.
In the title role, Jaho's acting could only be described as overwrought. It's a pity as everything else about her is pretty marvellous. She's a fierce little singer, not the prettiest of sounds but vibrant and technically fabulous. She aces the coloratura whilst never losing sight of the vocal shadings of Violetta, displaying bravura and crippling illness in equal measures. Her rendition of Act III was breathtakingly confident, she looked half-dead (ideal and fairly unusual for a soprano) yet still held that sense of stature and class.
She was well paired with Costello's charmingly sung, puppy dog of an Alfredo. The chemistry was evident between the two, even though his acting doesn't get much beyond one note affection in Act I shifting to one note sadness by Act III. Both the weak and strong link was Gavanelli's incredible booming Germont. For sheer vocal prowess he'd be hard to beat, his slight aging vocal wobble entirely appropriate, but he often gave the impression of being the only person on stage. An old school stand and deliver performance.
The small roles were all terrifically well sung, Justina Gringyte, a Jette Parker Young Artist, achieving the impossible in actually making the non-role of Flora noticeable. Robert Lloyd and Jeremy White provided able support and experience though Ji Hyun Kim, another Jette Young Artist, offered such a small voice he could barely be heard.
Letting the side down a little was Maurizio Benini in the pit who, whilst mostly producing a lovely, fulsome orchestral sound, took such aggressive tempi, particularly in Act III, that the singers were occasionally struggling to keep up.
A grand night at the opera dominated by a central performance from Jaho. She was well assisted, at least vocally, by Costello and Gavanelli, and even weakly revived, this production remains a treasure. Despite the maddeningly long run of Traviatas, tickets are difficult to come by (at least the bankable operas are still bankable!). This trio are well worth the effort to find them.
(Review of Performance on Monday, January 2nd, 2012 at the Royal Opera House)
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