Review of La Traviata Performed by the Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera’s 2017 production of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata (The Fallen Woman) broadcast on PBS’s Great Performances on August 25, 2017 features spectacular singers. Sonya Yoncheva as Violetta Valéry, Michael Fabiano as her lover Alfredo Germont, and Thomas Hampson as Alfredo’s father Giorgio Germont portray the opera’s strong emotions powerfully. When they sing together, their voices blend in brilliant harmony. By combining acts 2 and 3 without an intermission, this fast-paced production builds suspense and emotional intensity. Nicola Luisotti conducts the orchestra flawlessly. However, I question many of the choices of Director Willy Decker. Setting the show in the twenty-first century, dressing all women except Violetta and Annina in male garb, emphasizing the huge clock, and having Dottore (Doctor) Grenvil constantly onstage distract the audience from the major themes of La Traviata. (more…)