© Belinda Jiao
Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata of 1853 is one of the most frequently performed operas in the world today. Based on Alexandre Dumas fils’s play La Dame aux camélias, it tells of Violetta Valéry who is a famed Parisian courtesan. Beneath her apparently carefree exterior, however, she is suffering from tuberculosis and her world is shaken when she meets Alfredo with whom she falls in love. They run away together and live off the sale of her goods, but one day Alfredo’s father Giorgio Germont appears and begs her to leave him. This is because Alfredo’s behaviour has brought disgrace on his family, which is impacting on the ability of Germont’s daughter to marry and be happy. Despite loving Alfredo deeply, Violetta shows compassion towards the family and agrees.
Alfredo, however, does not discover the real reason why Violetta has suddenly walked away, and everything comes to a head when he angrily confronts her at Violetta’s friend Flora’s party. He eventually discovers the truth as his father also regrets pushing them apart, but by this time Violetta is terribly ill and, though the pair are finally reconciled, the renewed happiness that this brings is not enough to stop her from dying.
Peter Konwitschny’s version for English National Opera, which represents a co-production with Opera Graz, Austria, first appeared at the London Coliseum in 2013, and is revived on this occasion by Ruth Knight. It takes quite an unorthodox approach to the work, paring Verdi’s masterpiece down by removing anything that could be deemed superfluous or less than vital.
Not only is the running time cut, as the performance lasts around two hours with no intervals, but the staging feels decidedly minimalist as Johannes Leiacker’s set consists entirely of several rows of silky red curtains. It is an effective way of suggesting the decadence inherent in the scenario, while the various occasions on which each set are open or closed suggests much. For example, the second row of curtains parts to reveal the third as Violetta sings ‘Ah fors’è lui’, in line with how her thoughts of Alfredo are leaving her exposed emotionally. They are drawn again, however, for ‘Sempre libera degg’io’, in which she asserts her more carefree, public persona once more, thus hiding her deepest needs and desires from view. During Flora’s party all of the curtains drop, or are torn, to the ground, laying both the stage and Violetta’s impending fate bare, and revealing just how desolate life is.
The programme’s synopsis explains that Violetta’s party guests ‘have come as voyeurs, for apart from the prospect of a sexual adventure or two, they are chiefly keen to be regaled by the woman’s death’. Quite how cruel they can be is revealed from the outset as one of them sits in Violetta’s chair and mimics her coughing. The revellers are, in fact, a notably aggressive and unlikeable group who can be particularly amorous with each other, but also antagonistic and confrontational.
Nicole Chevalier, Freddie Tong, ENO’s La traviata 2023 © Belinda Jiao
Nicole Chevalier’s Violetta is consequently the victim of a hedonistic society that she ostensibly epitomises (Gabriella Cassidy plays the role on 7 November). Initially decked out with bob haircut and glamorous dress that blends with the curtains, her performance is exceptionally powerful. What might appear to be a very clear and secure soprano also reveals itself to be extremely vibrant and nuanced, thus ensuring that Chevalier’s voice is as multi-faceted as her interpretation of the character. In the heartbreaking Act III, while in no way undermining Violetta’s essence, she reveals more scorn and less serenity at the role others have played in her demise than is seen in most portrayals.
In the way the production is set up, it is all too easy for Alfredo to come across as a snivelling nerd, which can risk giving insufficient dignity to the character, and make it difficult to appreciate why Violetta might ever see anything in him. In Jose Simerilla Romero’s sensitive portrayal, however, the problem is minimised as, with his highly pleasing tenor, he feels less of a caricature, and his clean cut innocence actually comes across as the trait that makes him so attractive to Violetta.
The real class act of the night, however, comes from Roland Wood who puts his commanding baritone to excellent use as Giorgio Germont. It is possible to play Germont as a totally expectant figure or as someone whose own heart is broken by the sacrifice he asks of Violetta, but Wood’s assumption ultimately suggests he is a control freak. He actually presents to Violetta the daughter (Summah Chandi sharing the role with Alice Mountford) who she is supposedly preventing from being happy, and she is very young. One consequently suspects that her prospective marriage has been arranged by him. True, the daughter pleads with Germont to persuade Violetta, which on the surface would suggest she genuinely loves the man. However, if Germont has raised his daughter telling her how everything will be, including who she will marry, her distress could result from the certainties she has always lived with being shaken, and a longing for them to be restored. Certainly, there are moments in both Acts II and III when Alfredo collapses tearfully into Germont’s arms, again suggesting that the father raised his children to be totally dependent on him.
In a production that lays so much emphasis on the hedonism inherent in the society, it is a slight shame that the gypsy and matador entertainers who would surely have highlighted this further do not appear. In fact, the cuts impede a little on the pacing and hence impact of Flora’s party in Act II and, to a lesser, extent Act III, although the latter is certainly moving. However, any difficulties are more than compensated for by Richard Farnes’s superlative conducting of the English National Opera Orchestra. His tempi are faultless, and there is an exquisite attention to detail as individual lines are delineated to perfection, while together making for the ultimate blend.
By Sam Smith
La traviata | 23 October - 12 November 2023 | London Coliseum
the 25 of October, 2023 | Print
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