.It seems that airports (or waiting in the airport for the flight) bring inspiration. When I found out about this Traviata at Royal Opera, about 1 year and 3 months ago, the trip to NY and La Traviata at the Met weren’t even an idea. So this was like a goal. To see live the production I’ve been watching on DVD for about 10 years. So Royal Opera made me plan my activities one year in advance. Back then I didn’t know if I was able to travel. After all it’s one long year ahead. Time passed, everything went fine so I went to London.
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I arrived one day before. I wanted to see another production, Manon starring Anna Netrebko and Vittorio Grigolo (this was another wowww. But I’ll talk about it in another post). Saturday passed and Sunday came. July 11th. I was nervous all day long. Nervous in a good way. Maybe nervous is not the right word. Anxious, euphoric, happy… these are better.
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What happened during those 3 hours and 15 minutes was like a fairy tale. With a princess and a prince, with love, passion and sorrow. The sad story of Violetta Valery impressed me to tears. After the overture the red curtain goes up and you can see Violetta sitting in the dark ball room. Only one spotlight placed above her marks her position. This is how the story starts.
What happened during those 3 hours and 15 minutes was like a fairy tale. With a princess and a prince, with love, passion and sorrow. The sad story of Violetta Valery impressed me to tears. After the overture the red curtain goes up and you can see Violetta sitting in the dark ball room. Only one spotlight placed above her marks her position. This is how the story starts.
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When watching the DVD I thought that the sets are small, that the stage is crowded. In reality it’s not like this. At least not from where I was sitting. The ball room is designed to be at an upper floor as some stairs are visible on the left and right, coming from downstairs. In fact the ballroom is a disc, reclining towards the audience to offer some perspective. Great costumes! Especially the white dress which combined with the hairdo made Angela look gorgeous. This is one of the advantages of sitting close to the stage. The sound isn’t the best, but the view is spectacular. You can notice every small detail such as gestures, the direction of the sight, the rendition of love, passion, fear, anger, things that you can’t see from the amphitheatre. I could also see how the small white flower (the one Violetta gives to Alfredo) attached to the cleavage of the dress came off and dropped on the floor. Angela saw it, finished what she was singing and attempted to pick it up. Only that she moved the large dress which created an air flow. The small flower flew towards the orchestra pit. A few seconds later she says “prendete questo fiore” but turns away from the audience while rising the hand. But Mr Valenti didn’t get her movement. Just stood where he was and kept on singing without even getting closer to her. But this was just a detail. At the end of act one the white, fabric curtain rised and Angela received the well deserved round of applause.
When watching the DVD I thought that the sets are small, that the stage is crowded. In reality it’s not like this. At least not from where I was sitting. The ball room is designed to be at an upper floor as some stairs are visible on the left and right, coming from downstairs. In fact the ballroom is a disc, reclining towards the audience to offer some perspective. Great costumes! Especially the white dress which combined with the hairdo made Angela look gorgeous. This is one of the advantages of sitting close to the stage. The sound isn’t the best, but the view is spectacular. You can notice every small detail such as gestures, the direction of the sight, the rendition of love, passion, fear, anger, things that you can’t see from the amphitheatre. I could also see how the small white flower (the one Violetta gives to Alfredo) attached to the cleavage of the dress came off and dropped on the floor. Angela saw it, finished what she was singing and attempted to pick it up. Only that she moved the large dress which created an air flow. The small flower flew towards the orchestra pit. A few seconds later she says “prendete questo fiore” but turns away from the audience while rising the hand. But Mr Valenti didn’t get her movement. Just stood where he was and kept on singing without even getting closer to her. But this was just a detail. At the end of act one the white, fabric curtain rised and Angela received the well deserved round of applause.
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The sets in the second act brought a real surprise. Everything happens very, very close to the edge of the stage, so also close to us. From the point of view of the music and intensity of feelings, this is my favorite act. Especially when pere Germont has the voice I’d like him to have. And Zelico Lucic was the best pere Germont I’ve seen so far. What a voice! Dark but gentle, full of colors, not to loud, it matched Angela’s voice perfectly. The acting was great too. At first he wants to dominate but soon understands the situation. Towards the end of the first part of act II there is an area that often disappears but it’s so beautiful and I was glad that it was kept in this production: “Dunque invano trovato t’avro”. Pere Germont is a strong presence also in the end of the second act. The concertato was beautiful. The voices, the chorus in the background, the orchestra.. perfect. Violetta falls down on her knees when Alfredo throws the tokens on her and remains like this throughout the concertato. In the end pere Germont help her rise and the curtain falls. Only to rise a few second later. Nobody moved from the initial position.
The sets in the second act brought a real surprise. Everything happens very, very close to the edge of the stage, so also close to us. From the point of view of the music and intensity of feelings, this is my favorite act. Especially when pere Germont has the voice I’d like him to have. And Zelico Lucic was the best pere Germont I’ve seen so far. What a voice! Dark but gentle, full of colors, not to loud, it matched Angela’s voice perfectly. The acting was great too. At first he wants to dominate but soon understands the situation. Towards the end of the first part of act II there is an area that often disappears but it’s so beautiful and I was glad that it was kept in this production: “Dunque invano trovato t’avro”. Pere Germont is a strong presence also in the end of the second act. The concertato was beautiful. The voices, the chorus in the background, the orchestra.. perfect. Violetta falls down on her knees when Alfredo throws the tokens on her and remains like this throughout the concertato. In the end pere Germont help her rise and the curtain falls. Only to rise a few second later. Nobody moved from the initial position.
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The sets in the third act preserve the idea of a house in decay. Two beds, a small stove, a few chairs. “Teneste la promessa”, “Addio, del pasato…” and she really makes you feel that her end is very close. Not too much coughing as the critics said, just enough to make everything believable. Towards the end the light in the room is brighter and brighter and under these circumstances Violetta’s staring look and running in the end makes sense. And she died again in the arms of a desperate Alfredo.
The sets in the third act preserve the idea of a house in decay. Two beds, a small stove, a few chairs. “Teneste la promessa”, “Addio, del pasato…” and she really makes you feel that her end is very close. Not too much coughing as the critics said, just enough to make everything believable. Towards the end the light in the room is brighter and brighter and under these circumstances Violetta’s staring look and running in the end makes sense. And she died again in the arms of a desperate Alfredo.
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The voices? How could I comment? Not too often my eyes are flooded with tears. It must be something very special. Such as Violetta-pere Germont scenes, Violetta’s arias (amazing pianissimo, so many colors in the voice, so much passion in every word). I took with me every note, every feeling everybody on stage gave to us. The more I listen, the more I realize how difficult it is what they do on stage. And how into the character they must be in order to make it real. My respect and appreciation grows every day.
The voices? How could I comment? Not too often my eyes are flooded with tears. It must be something very special. Such as Violetta-pere Germont scenes, Violetta’s arias (amazing pianissimo, so many colors in the voice, so much passion in every word). I took with me every note, every feeling everybody on stage gave to us. The more I listen, the more I realize how difficult it is what they do on stage. And how into the character they must be in order to make it real. My respect and appreciation grows every day.
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So, this was Traviata at ROH. This is what my eyes saw and my ears heard. As always, thank you, Angela!
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And some photos. My hands were shaking badly, but the camera knows its job :). Enjoy!
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The end of Act 1
So, this was Traviata at ROH. This is what my eyes saw and my ears heard. As always, thank you, Angela!
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And some photos. My hands were shaking badly, but the camera knows its job :). Enjoy!
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The end of Act 1
The end of act 2
Curtain call
James Valenti
Yves Abel
Zelico Lucic, Angela Gheorghiu, Yves Abel, James Valenti
Zelico Lucic
At the backstage door
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