![]() ![]() Zeffirelli with a slightly lower calorie count doubtless appeals to some even on this side of the Atlantic, but there is suspension of disbelief and then there is the size of Violetta’s bedroom in act three of this production. ![]() Given the conservatism of Eyre’s production, and especially of Bob Crowley’s designs, that is not necessarily so bad thing. Certainly one had the impression, rightly or wrongly, that her movements, her expressions, pretty much everything she is doing – all these are very much her own thing. In terms of playing herself on stage she is also clearly without peer Angela Gheorghiu is a role one is tempted to think she was born to play. She obviously does not look – or sound – so young now, but this remains still a fine vocal performance. I recall watching this production on the television as a schoolboy, the first run under Solti which really made Gheorghiu’s name. Her coloratura was, so far as I discerned, flawless, no mean feat. She made it work though, so that it could be heard perfectly well even when singing pianissimo. I had not actually heard her in the flesh before and was a little surprised as to how small her voice is. There would be many worse ways of doing so than seeing Angela Gheorghiu as Violetta. (Oddly, however, there is a recording of the op.52 Liebeslieder Waltzes from Aldeburgh.) In a similar spirit, although on a considerably broader timescale, I considered that it would do me no harm to put my prejudices or judgements to the test. ![]() Benjamin Britten was said to listen to the music of Brahms once a year, to remind him why he loathed it. ![]() This was my first Verdi performance in the theatre for thirteen years or so: I must have been the least jaded of critics for the opening night of the revival of Sir Richard Eyre’s La Traviata. Royal Opera Chorus and extra chorus (chorus master: Renato Balsadonna) Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends of Violetta and Flora, Guests, Servants ![]()
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