Although the 'Metropolitan Opera Live in Hd' series is not the most consistent series, it's still watched by me for the amazing music, revisiting some of my favourites nowadays(the likes of Renee Fleming, Rene Pape, Juan Diego Florez and Dmitri Hvorostovsky) and discovering promising new talent. Season 11 has been a mixed bag, with up to this point 'L'Amour De Loin' faring best and 'Tristan Und Isolde' faring weakest.
'La Traviata' is one of my all-time favourite Verdis, and also is one of my lifelong favourites since hearing the Sutherland, Bergonzi and Merrill recording. The best productions available will always be the Zeffirelli film, which to this day is still one of the best opera films ever made, and the Anna Moffo film, Renee Fleming and Angela Gheorghiu also have wonderful productions. Personally have seen few bad productions, with the exceptions of the ghastly ENO production directed by Peter Konwitschny.
Willy Decker's production was first introduced to me through the Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon production, which was a very good performance. The 2012 Met production, which was also seen as part of the 'Live in HD' series, had the same production, but it didn't work anywhere near as well and was the biggest disappointment of that particular season. This 2017 production is a vast improvement with far more consistent singing, though the performance of Germont and the conducting is much better in the earlier production, and the staging doesn't infuriate as much.
It's not one hundred percent ideal. The sets are still rather cold and stark, which is not an appealing look, with the Act 1 party looking as far removed from a party as one could possibly get. The staging is not as infuriating as before and is far more passionate and moving, though a few of the more omnipresent touches do come over as pointless and self-indulgent.
Nicola Luisotti's conducting could have accommodated the singing much better, the tempos are often too pedestrian and it needed more poetry. Thomas Hampson was a disappointment as Germont. Vocally he is well over the hill, his tone is dry and his phrasing coarse and laboured, the long phrases he struggles to support. He is unconvincing dramatically too, he looks the part of an authority figure certainly but as well as being stern Germont is also sympathetic later on, Hampson looks stiff throughout and fails to bring a sympathetic quality.
However, this 'La Traviata' has a lot of passion and pathos in the staging. Act 1 is a little shaky but Act 2 is poignant and filled with dynamic tension at the end and Act 3 made me cry, then again it nearly always does with a few exceptions. Violetta and Germont's costumes are great, though the chorus' are still pretty dreadful and hardly looked dressed for a party or any kind of celebration.
Often it is very good musically. The orchestra play with style and lushness, allowing the pathos of "Addio Del Passato" and "Ditte Alla Giuvine" and the joviality of "Brindisi" and the Matador chorus to come through. The chorus are superb, with gleaming tone and their acting has come on hugely with much more individuality.
Sonya Yoncheva is a mesmerising Violetta, with the same qualities that can be seen in her absolutely magical Desdemona last season. Her tone is absolutely gorgeous and her phrasing smooth as silk and agile. She is a sincere actress and captures Violetta's vulnerability far more convincingly than Natalie Dessay, who was a huge disappointment in the role in the earlier production. Michael Fabiano does have a slightly unpersuasive start, but his voice has ring and a honeyed quality with little signs of strain or pushing. He grows significantly in his acting in Acts 2 and 3, almost frightening at the end of Act 2 and heart-wrenching at the end of the opera.
The supporting cast are also strong, the standouts being the bright, bubbly Flora of Rebecca Jo Loeb, the foppish and resonantly voiced Baron Douphol of old favourite Dwayne Croft and the sparkling Annina of Jane Bunnell.
In conclusion, good production with some great elements but falls short of being great with some obvious pitfalls. 7/10 Bethany Cox
'La Traviata' is one of my all-time favourite Verdis, and also is one of my lifelong favourites since hearing the Sutherland, Bergonzi and Merrill recording. The best productions available will always be the Zeffirelli film, which to this day is still one of the best opera films ever made, and the Anna Moffo film, Renee Fleming and Angela Gheorghiu also have wonderful productions. Personally have seen few bad productions, with the exceptions of the ghastly ENO production directed by Peter Konwitschny.
Willy Decker's production was first introduced to me through the Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon production, which was a very good performance. The 2012 Met production, which was also seen as part of the 'Live in HD' series, had the same production, but it didn't work anywhere near as well and was the biggest disappointment of that particular season. This 2017 production is a vast improvement with far more consistent singing, though the performance of Germont and the conducting is much better in the earlier production, and the staging doesn't infuriate as much.
It's not one hundred percent ideal. The sets are still rather cold and stark, which is not an appealing look, with the Act 1 party looking as far removed from a party as one could possibly get. The staging is not as infuriating as before and is far more passionate and moving, though a few of the more omnipresent touches do come over as pointless and self-indulgent.
Nicola Luisotti's conducting could have accommodated the singing much better, the tempos are often too pedestrian and it needed more poetry. Thomas Hampson was a disappointment as Germont. Vocally he is well over the hill, his tone is dry and his phrasing coarse and laboured, the long phrases he struggles to support. He is unconvincing dramatically too, he looks the part of an authority figure certainly but as well as being stern Germont is also sympathetic later on, Hampson looks stiff throughout and fails to bring a sympathetic quality.
However, this 'La Traviata' has a lot of passion and pathos in the staging. Act 1 is a little shaky but Act 2 is poignant and filled with dynamic tension at the end and Act 3 made me cry, then again it nearly always does with a few exceptions. Violetta and Germont's costumes are great, though the chorus' are still pretty dreadful and hardly looked dressed for a party or any kind of celebration.
Often it is very good musically. The orchestra play with style and lushness, allowing the pathos of "Addio Del Passato" and "Ditte Alla Giuvine" and the joviality of "Brindisi" and the Matador chorus to come through. The chorus are superb, with gleaming tone and their acting has come on hugely with much more individuality.
Sonya Yoncheva is a mesmerising Violetta, with the same qualities that can be seen in her absolutely magical Desdemona last season. Her tone is absolutely gorgeous and her phrasing smooth as silk and agile. She is a sincere actress and captures Violetta's vulnerability far more convincingly than Natalie Dessay, who was a huge disappointment in the role in the earlier production. Michael Fabiano does have a slightly unpersuasive start, but his voice has ring and a honeyed quality with little signs of strain or pushing. He grows significantly in his acting in Acts 2 and 3, almost frightening at the end of Act 2 and heart-wrenching at the end of the opera.
The supporting cast are also strong, the standouts being the bright, bubbly Flora of Rebecca Jo Loeb, the foppish and resonantly voiced Baron Douphol of old favourite Dwayne Croft and the sparkling Annina of Jane Bunnell.
In conclusion, good production with some great elements but falls short of being great with some obvious pitfalls. 7/10 Bethany Cox
