A very quick and almost instant review of Tuesday evening performance at the Royal Opera house
Basicaly, a routine revival with a largely unstarry cast. I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening, luxuriating in this great great work. Because the tunes are so familiar and so hummable, it's so easy to dismiss it as fluffy. An opera you'd suggest as a possible 'First' for a newbie. Being familiar and accessible does not diminish its greatness.
The conductor Yves Abel led the orchestra in an unusually intimate interpretation. His pacing was relaxed, never quite falling into langour, with passages of light, and some delicate touches and beautiful arching phrases.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky was as expected as Giorgio Germont, exemplary as a performer and delightfully stiff and stuffy as a character. He sounded a bit gruff to begin with, but he soon warmed up and settled in, and at times sounded utterly gorgeous. He is, of course, a superstar name, so I'm not quite right in saying it wasn't a starry cast. And 70-year old Robert Lloyd was luxury cast in the tiny role of Doctor Grenvil.
I had very mixed feelings about Ermonela Jaho. When she was good she was very good, and was physically convincing as Violetta. When she wasn't so good she squawked. She seemed vulnerable when she had those wonderful solo passages with minimal orchestration that Verdi so lovingly gave to singers, but she flourished against the heavier orchestration and in ensemble. Never a beautiful voice, she seems to have made a career out of singing Violetta when it is quite possible that she would be a much better Tosca.
In an unusual Albanian double (these Eastern Europeans, where are they flocking from?) Saimir Pirgu was a sensational Alfredo. He's been on my radar for a while - I loved him in the one-aria tenor role in Gianni Schicchi, three years ago, and last year he didn't disappoint as Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac in Paris, despite it being a thankless part.
And frankly, as soon as he caressed the word 'palpito' soon after his entrance in Act 1, he was mine. And he just got better and better. A bit wayward of pitch once or twice, but not in some painful straining way - in exuberance and passion. Still in his 20s, he was a credible and sympathetic Alfredo, and, actually, young enough to be Dima's son (!).
What a voice! I love him. I love him so much I would go and see Boheme if he was in it. His voice moved me to tears. It also worked so well with Dima's in ensemble; I have never realised before how emotional the finale of Act II is, how complex and expressive the music. I hope that he 's got someone looking after his interests, not persuading him into roles too heavy too soon - I suspect he will emerge as a very exciting spinto in time.
He looked good on stage and moved with confidence. Through the binoculars, he looked very easy on the eye, too, which is no bad thing for a romantic tenor: not entirely sure how impressive he'd look on TV.
It was Traviata, which every opera fan knows well, and it was the old old Richard Eyre production which every London opera fan knows (and was immortalised on DVD with Angela Gheorghiu). No point in analaysing the story or the production, enough to say it didn't nnoy me too much. There were elements in it I didn't recognise; whether they're new or I've just not noticed them before, I can't say!
My most favourite moment is when Violetta is singing Sempre Libera and Alfredo's voice is heard from off-stage. So, I'd just like to say to the stupid laughing woman behind me - that was one of the occasions when you shouldn't have laughed. How completely stupid or hard do you have to be to think that that is funny? How many clues do you need, such as over 2,000 other people aren't laughing?
