Verdi: La Traviata

Imaginative Production
I admired the production and wanted to listen to the work of the leading lady immediately after the DVD was completed. That is postive comment enough. It is not a traditional look at the work; it is not placed in its time and place; it is another viewpoint and I think legitimate.

Buy this for Dessay
Natalie Dessay is an artist whom I admire greatly for her singing, acting, intelligence and musicianship. This performance is ample reason why. Here is a well-sung and compelling acted performance of one of opera's more challenging roles. At times I thought her characterization was a bit edgy - on the verge in a manner more suited to Lucia than to Violetta - but, still, it's a thoughtful and valid portrayal. Her singing is technically brilliant (as in "Sempre libera") and deeply moving ("Addio del passato") where needed. I was particularly pleased that she takes both verses of both her arias. The last several performances of I've seen in the theatre have used these erstwhile traditional cuts.

Miss Dessay is well-matched in the Alfredo of Charles Castronovo. He has a pleasing lyric voice and shows a commendable empathy for a not altogether sympathetic character. His singing is tasteful and involved, though he does come close to losing the high C at the end of his...

Verdi would not recognise this opera
If there is one reason to own this DVD, it is Dessay. A natural query is "Why would Dessay get involved in a production like this?" Seeing Dessay in Met's La Traviata recently (HD theatres) inspired me to buy the present DVD, which is the only Violetta available with Dessay. We see a vivacious forty-year-old face on a lithe twenty-year-old frame. It is a pleasure. Her performance brought back memories of watching Callas as Cio Cio San, and Moffo as Lucia more than half a century ago. Callas, Moffo, and Dessay can now be spoken in the same breath.

What a contrast! This Virgin version is embedded in a third-rate setting (using that word loosely, sorry) and choreography. It is impossible for anyone, including Dessay, to inspire her compatriots, who at best are indifferent, and at worse lacks imagination. These singers performed in their street clothes. Annina even brought along her newspaper to keep her from being bored. She needed it at the beginning of Act 1 (bit...

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