Scottish Opera, 25/10/2017
Verdi : La traviata
Chorus of La traviata
Orchestra of Scottish Opera
David Parry
This revival of David McVicar's 2008 production is as handsome an affair as it was originally, fin-de-siècle costumes and décor (by Tanya McCallin) in monochromatic shades of black and off-white, like a Sargent or Whistler painting, with effective dashes of colour highlights, mainly reds; death, the pallor of illness, and blood, and the whole thing sitting on a vastly enlarged tombstone, serving as the foundation. Visually, it's very, very strong, and the action is put forward clearly and legibly. There's nothing to rock the boat here in terms of presentation, but it's not just dull routine either, so on the whole this La traviata is an undeniable winner
Musically, though, there's something to be desired. My first and foremost gripe was with the Italian. Normally the choruses used in Scottish Opera (there's no permanent, resident chorus anymore) are well schooled, linguistically, but tonight there was something very flat about their Italian, right from the outset, which affected the overall impression. Add to that the rather plummy enunciation of the soprano, and it was persistant, if low-level, irritation that continued right to the end of the evening - one of those little itches you can't reach to scratch.
This is not the most poetic of Verdi's scores for the orchestra, it's very much a prop for the singers, but it is possible to transcend that status. However, Parry and this orchestra were not quite up to that, and indeed, in the first act, I found the violin sound somewhat acid; it warmed up later. Parry kept things moving along, for the most part, though he never quite seemed in full accord with Gulnara Shafigullina's expansive Violetta. She liked to give herself the vocal room to manoeuver, usually to quite good effect, while Parry showed a crisper sense of timing. She was a fair Violetta, on the whole, direct and honest, but I found her capitulation in Act 2 a little too easy, and she has quite a heavy vibrato that occasionally causes intonation problems.
Peter Gijsbertsen has a fine tenor voice, with a nice, rounded timbre, and expressive phrasing. He was also convincing dramatically. I rather liked his Alfredo, which is saying something, because normally I consider Alfredo to be a bit of a snot. However, in terms of power, he is only just adequate for the role, too often covered by the orchestra and ensemble in the big climaxes. It's an attractive voice, but maybe more Fenton than Alfredo, if he's going to sing Verdi. Stephen Gadd brought his solid, authoritarian baritone to Germont père, and a somewhat stolid stage presence, where a little more subtlety would not have come amiss, but imposing enough in the Act 2 finale. The secondary character roles were all well taken, particularly Catherine Backhouse's warm and touching Annina.
The final impression was, overall, fairly satisfactory - certainly my estimation of the audience response on the way out was one of general pleasure - and the production is a clear success, but musically this was a decent performance, and nothing more.
[Next : 29th October]
Chorus of La traviata
Orchestra of Scottish Opera
David Parry
This revival of David McVicar's 2008 production is as handsome an affair as it was originally, fin-de-siècle costumes and décor (by Tanya McCallin) in monochromatic shades of black and off-white, like a Sargent or Whistler painting, with effective dashes of colour highlights, mainly reds; death, the pallor of illness, and blood, and the whole thing sitting on a vastly enlarged tombstone, serving as the foundation. Visually, it's very, very strong, and the action is put forward clearly and legibly. There's nothing to rock the boat here in terms of presentation, but it's not just dull routine either, so on the whole this La traviata is an undeniable winner
 |
| La traviata Act 2 finale - Stephen Gadd (seated, left) Peter Gijsbertsen (centre) Scottish Opera (© Jane Hobson 2017) |
Musically, though, there's something to be desired. My first and foremost gripe was with the Italian. Normally the choruses used in Scottish Opera (there's no permanent, resident chorus anymore) are well schooled, linguistically, but tonight there was something very flat about their Italian, right from the outset, which affected the overall impression. Add to that the rather plummy enunciation of the soprano, and it was persistant, if low-level, irritation that continued right to the end of the evening - one of those little itches you can't reach to scratch.
This is not the most poetic of Verdi's scores for the orchestra, it's very much a prop for the singers, but it is possible to transcend that status. However, Parry and this orchestra were not quite up to that, and indeed, in the first act, I found the violin sound somewhat acid; it warmed up later. Parry kept things moving along, for the most part, though he never quite seemed in full accord with Gulnara Shafigullina's expansive Violetta. She liked to give herself the vocal room to manoeuver, usually to quite good effect, while Parry showed a crisper sense of timing. She was a fair Violetta, on the whole, direct and honest, but I found her capitulation in Act 2 a little too easy, and she has quite a heavy vibrato that occasionally causes intonation problems.
Peter Gijsbertsen has a fine tenor voice, with a nice, rounded timbre, and expressive phrasing. He was also convincing dramatically. I rather liked his Alfredo, which is saying something, because normally I consider Alfredo to be a bit of a snot. However, in terms of power, he is only just adequate for the role, too often covered by the orchestra and ensemble in the big climaxes. It's an attractive voice, but maybe more Fenton than Alfredo, if he's going to sing Verdi. Stephen Gadd brought his solid, authoritarian baritone to Germont père, and a somewhat stolid stage presence, where a little more subtlety would not have come amiss, but imposing enough in the Act 2 finale. The secondary character roles were all well taken, particularly Catherine Backhouse's warm and touching Annina.
The final impression was, overall, fairly satisfactory - certainly my estimation of the audience response on the way out was one of general pleasure - and the production is a clear success, but musically this was a decent performance, and nothing more.
[Next : 29th October]