La Traviata

Waiting for Act 2

La Traviata was the second opera I fell in love with.  I first saw the Zefirelli film version with Placido Domingo and Teresa Stratas, as I recall, back in the 80's.  I have seen productions in Baltimore, DC. San Francisco, New York and now Carcassonne.   Each had different strengths and weaknesses. I enjoyed this one for four reasons: the acoustics in the theater, the dancing, the chorus, and the woman who sang the role of Violetta.

French surtitles

 What blew me away was Violetta, sung by Ainhoa Garmendia.  Not only could she sing, she could act.  Her voice was heavier and darker than I am used to hearing, but what she could do with a phrase....color and dynamics and float those high notes.  She was maybe the best Violetta I have ever heard, bar none.  Certainly, she was the best Violetta I have ever seen act....

As for the other major roles, Alfredo and Giorgio Germont and the Baron..... the guy who sang Alfredo should maybe line up some students.  The baron was so-so.  Giorgio could sing but could not act to save his life. 

Interesting that the prelude, those luscious strings at the beginning, was a backdrop for a pas de deux.  I have never seen a dance put there before, and I thought it was quite effective.  And in the party scene where the toreadors dance, well, let's just say that these dancers came from flamenco country and knew what they were about, castanets and all.  Wow!

Act 3  Sorry it's blurred but you can get an idea of the color and movement.

The sets were pretty spartan, but the costuming was great.  The chorus was wonderful, and so was the orchestra.  The acoustics were amazing--even up in the third balcony, I could hear every rolled r, every percussive initial consonant.  I had a great view, even from so far on high.  But hey, the tickets were only 15 Euros---my God, you can't park your car in the Kennedy Center for that, I'll bet.

Yes, it took me longer to climb the steps to get to the third balcony than it did to walk to the theater, but I was able to climb all of them non-stop.  Living on the 3rd floor American and taking the steps many times a day is paying off.  I also refused to use my flash, and set my camera to museum.  I had mixed results.  The kids in front of me were making a video of almost the whole opera. I don't think that should be allowed, but nobody asked me. It is probably already on YouTube.  And the performers get no recompense and have no control over the quality of what goes out there. 

The surtitles were in French, which was a first for me. I am thrilled to report that I understood every single word. No dictionary needed.  It obviously helped that I knew some of the Italian and all of the story.

The final benefit was learning that there is life after dark here. Restaurants are open. The theater hosted people of all ages, young to very old with canes. It was especially heartening to see teens and people in their early 20's there. I felt perfectly safe walking home at 11:00 alone. The rain had stopped, it was chilly, but the moon lit the streets. 

The next opera is Figaro, in February.  I can't wait.