LA FORZA DEL DESTINO, Royal Opera House, 2 April 2019

Giuseppe Verdi LA FORZA DEL DESTINO,
 Royal Opera House, 2 April 2019 (Cinema Relay)


CAST

Marchese di Calatrava..........................................ROBERT LLOYD

Leonora di Vargas................................................ANNA NETREBKO

Curra, a maid.......................................................ROBERTA ALEXANDER

Don Alvaro..........................................................JONAS KAUFMANN

Don Carlo di Vargas............................................LUDOVIC TEZIER

Alcalde................................................................MICHAEL MOFIDIAN

Maestro Trabucco...............................................CARLO BOSI

Preziosilla............................................................VERONICA SIMEONI

Padre Guardiano................................................FERRUCCIO FURLANETTO

Fra Melitone......................................................ALESSANDRO CORBELLI

Surgeon...............................................................JONATHAN FISHER


Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Conductor.......................................................   ANTONIO PAPPANO

Producer............................................................CHRISTOF LOY



A great triumph for the Royal Opera House in every respect. This opera has not in the past been one of my favourites, although I have always loved the music. This production, however,  managed to turn this rather daft Victorian melodrama into a thing of beauty. I wonder if there will ever again be such a fortunate conjunction of cast, conductor  (Antonio Pappano) and orchestra?  I will never forget this as long as I live.

It may be the best performance that Anna Netrebko has given.

It can't be an easy role to play.....poor Leonora never has one moment of happiness....well, perhaps a fleeting few seconds before their flight is thwarted by her father and the inevitable tragedy ensues. I loved the soaring high notes in 'Pace, pace, mio Dio' and the passion and commitment  she brought to this tragic character. Whatever she tries to do, however sincerely penitent she is, she can't find peace, so tormented by the memories the death of her father and the loss of Alvaro.

However, this wasn't  a case of the the star soprano dominating the scene, the connections between the characters were truly reciprocal.....the relationship between Carlo and Alvaro has a lot of sub-text, I think, depicted with great intensity by Jonas Kaufmann and .Ludovic Tezier.

The performance of 'Solenne in quest'ora' broke my heart........almost a thwarted bromance!!  There is no better pairing than Kaufmann and Tezier, and in this performance they took the scene to heights of sublimity.

And their later confrontation is even more intense and tragic because of what came before.......Alvaro's fate is tied up with the whole Calatrava family, not just Leonora...it's almost as if Alvaro is thinking.....I have to kill you, but that's not really what I want to do.....
..

In this production, the crowd scenes scene with Preziosilla seemed a bit extraneous.....very well performed, but something of an irrelevance.....I assume that was Christof Loy's point. Veronica Simeoni was a very attractive and smooth-voiced Preziosilla. In the crowd/circus scene, I especially liked the Street Vendor, who reminded me of Cut-My-Own-Throat Dibbler, a character created by Terry Pratchett.

It was certainly cast from strength..... I was particularly happy to see beloved veteran Robert Lloyd as the Marchese di Calatrava, and Feruccio Furlanetto as Padre Guardiano. 

I liked the staging, although it has attracted some unfavourable comments. It is one set, based on a room in the mansion of the Calatrava family, which accommodates all the other scenes as well. I thought this was quite effective, especially in the final scene....I realise they are supposed to be in the monastery where Leonora has taken refuge, but the fact that it resembles the claustrophobic home in which Leonora was trapped at the beginning means that the wheel has come full circle..Alvaro and Leonora are re-united when it is too late.

.....During the overture, there was a staging of a 'back story', the childhood of Leonora and Carlo.....with another brother, who dies. It shows that Leonora never really had a chance.....claustrophobic childhood to doomed adulthood.

(In the play on which LA FORZA DEL DESTINO is based.....LA FUERZA DEL SINO.....there are in fact two brothers. Alvaro kills Carlo in their duel, then the other brother....Don Alfonso...tracks him down and forces him to fight a duel.....Alvaro kills Alfonso too).

This was one of the best performances of anything I have ever seen at the Royal Opera House. 

TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, Royal Opera House, 5 December 2014

Richard Wagner, TRISTAN UND ISOLDE

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Friday 5 December 2014

Cast

Sailor                                                           ED LYON

Isolde                                                          NINA STEMME

Brangaene                                                  SARAH CONNOLLY

Kurwenal                                                     IAIN PATERSON

Tristan                                                         STEPHEN GOULD

Melot                                                           NEAL COOPER

King Marke                                                 JOHN TOMLINSON

Shepherd                                                    GRAHAM CLARK

Steersman                                                  YURI YURCHUK

Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Conductor                                                    ANTONIO PAPPANO

Director                                                         CHRISTOF LOY

It is perhaps a good thing that TRISTAN UND ISOLDE is performed comparatively rarely, as it would be difficult to cope with the emotional strain of seeing and hearing it more than once a year! (Once every five years in the case of this production).

This is the second time I have seen the production, and I still love the actual staging - spare, minimalist, stripped to its essentials, so that the drama and the music flourish unimpeded.  I realise it caused (and still causes) some controversy, and I am happy  the unnecessary canoodling between Kurwenal and Brangaene has been toned down so that it is no longer obtrusive. ( I didn't see the point, but that was my only criticism of the production).

As I said when I wrote about this production last time, nothing much 'happens' in TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, in terms of stage business.....the first act is narrative, the exposition....and, crucially, it is about Isolde's misunderstanding of her own feelings, not being able to admit that she doesn't hate Tristan, she loves him with a deep passion, and this is why she sees death as the only way out. And how eloquently Nina Stemme conveyed all the tangled complications of Isolde's feelings - angry, passionate, almost hysterical at times, and bitterness at the beginning of her confrontation with Tristan It isn't only that she has a beautiful voice, she brings such commitment to the characterisation of Isolde, the storms of emotion that batter her soul. At the beginning of the opera, she is wearing a white (wedding?) dress, then changes into black for her confrontation with Tristan. The simplicity of the costumes (for all the characters) is another characteristic of this production.

What I have said about Nina Stemme in fact applies to all the performers - they all meshed wonderfully together, with excellent rapport, and all were experts at characterisation. Sarah Connolly in beautiful voice as Brangaene, her mezzo a perfect foil to the soprano of Nina Stemme, and a very sympathetic, warm character, who obviously has her own ideas as to how deep-rooted Isolde's aversion to Tristan really is.

Stephen Gould distinguished himself as Tristan, rising to heights of intensity   especially in the delirious ravings of Act III, almost frightening, it was so believable. He also created a good balance of tenderness and passion during the Love Duet . I love this image from Act II - she starts setting the table for them, but then they get so involved in their discussion of the nature of love that they forget about it....

Iain Patterson was good as Kurwenal, bluff, soldierly, managing to convey his dislike of Isolde (and Brangaene) with body language as much as tone of voice. But - I am very much afraid we are witnessing the beginning of John Tomlinson's vocal decline. True, the shakiness of his voice did add to the poignancy of King Marke's lament (I always grieve for King Marke, whom Wagner portrays as a much more noble character than his counterpart in the medieval sources). But he just no longer has the ringing sonority he had when he was in his prime, although he did convey very movingly the idea of an older man crushed by grief. Think how sad it is for him - he loved and admired Tristan, he adored Isolde, even though he had apparently never tried to consummate the marriage.....and they repay him like this.

I have to say that this time I was rather disappointed with Pappano's conducting of the Prelude, it seemed rather hesitant and tentative, and didn't immediately plunge you into the world of strange chromaticism that Tristan and Isolde inhabit. But I can't fault the orchestral playing in later Acts - the Love Duet opens out onto a plateau of utter gorgeousness. (Pity about the idiot behind me who had FORGOTTEN TO TURN OFF THEIR PHONE).

I'll finish with an extract from Swinburne's TRISTRAM OF LYONESSE which he could not have written without Wagner. (Probably reading Swinburne's version wasn't the best way to come down from my Wagner-induced high, but there you are!!)

And with strong trembling fingers she strained fast

His head into her bosom; till at last

Satiate with sweetness of that burning bed,

His eyes afire with tears, he raised his head

And laughed into her lips; and all his heart

Filled hers; then face from face fell, and apart

Each hung on each with panting lips, and felt

Sense into sense and spirit in spirit melt.

   "Hast thou no sword? I would not live till day,

O love, this night and we must pass away,

It must die soon, and let not us die late."

   "Take then my sword and slay me; nay, but wait

Till day be risen; what, wouldst thou think to die

Before the light take hold upon the sky?"

   "Yea, love; for how shall we have twice, being twain,

This very night of love's most rapturous reign?

Live thou and have thy day, and year by year

Be great, but what shall I be? Slay me here;

Let me die not when love lies dead, but now

Strike through my heart: nay, sweet, what heart hast thou?

Is it so much I ask thee, and spend my breath

In asking? nay, thou knowest it is but death.

Hadst thou true heart to love me, thou wouldst give

This: but for hate's sake thou wilt let me live."

DIE WALKEURE at Royal Opera House, 4 Oct 2012

Richard Wagner: DIE WALKUERE

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 4 October 2012

CAST

SIEGMUND                                                     Simon O'Neill

SIEGLINDE                                                     Eva-Maria Westbroek

HUNDING                                                        John Tomlinson

WOTAN                                                           Bryn Terfel

FRICKA                                                            Sarah Connolly      

BRUNNHILDE                                                 Susan Bullock                  

Valkyries

GERHILDE                                                       Alwyn Mellor

ORTLINDE                                                       Katherine Broderick

WALTRAUTE                                                   Karen Cargill

SCHWERTLEITE                                             Anna Burford

HELMWIGE                                                     Elisabeth Meister

SIEGRUNE                                                       Sarah Castle

GRIMGERDE                                                    Clare Shearer

ROSSWEISE                                                     Madeleine Shaw


Orchestra of the Royal Opera
Conductor:                                                              Sir Antonio Pappano

The beautiful, chamber-music like leitmotifs characterising  the Volsung twins can scarcely every have been performed better than by the ROH orchestra under Sir Antonio Pappano last night - such a subtle, nuanced performance, telling the story in the orchestra as it unfolds in Siegmund's narratiion. Simon O'Neill as Siegmund was a bit feeble - seemed to be struggling throughout, unfortunately, but the Sieglinde - Eva-Maria Westbroek brought intensity and clarity to the role.

John Tomlinson was a suitable dark-toned, threatening Hunding - I loved the way that, on his first entrance, he kissed Sieglinde roughly, but not omitting to pull her hair! (Emphasising the point that 'Dies Haus und dies Weib sind Hundings eigen).

I am not enthusiastic about the actual production, but there is a marvellous moment during 'Winterstuerme' when a shower of rose petals fall round Sieglinde as she is standing on the platform. (Can't find an image of this, unfortunately).

The Brunnhilde is Susan Bullock, who made a good start with her bright Ho-jo-to-ho. She has a bright, shining soprano voice, without a hint of shrillness, and expressing great tenderness as she urges Wotan to confide in her.

Fricka is sung by Sarah Connolly - one of the best Frickas I have ever seen!! Regal and authoritative in appearance, (beautiful dress, BTW!) and the lovely mezzo voice and intelligent characterisation enabling us to sympathise with Fricka's argument - we realise that an eternity of being married to Wotan cannot have been easy!

The confrontation with Wotan is very well staged and acted, they still touch and embrace, but when Wotan kisses her hand after he growls at her 'Nimm den Eid', it is more a gesture of irony than submission.

Bryn Terfel as Wotan attempts to regain his authority after the confrontation with Fricka, during his Narration, ostensibly to Brunnhilde, but really thinking aloud, trying to reach a conclusion - but ends up, of course, just shouting contradictory orders at Brunnhilde.  The Todesverkuendigung was as heartbreaking as ever, rising to a pitch of almost unbearable tension as Siegmund asks 'Begleitet den Bruder die braeutliche Schwester? Umfaengt Siegmund Sieglinde dort?' - and then the tension is broken by Brunnhilde's calm reply - no, Sieglinde has to stay on earth. 

The Ride of the Valkyries was performed with great gusto, but in fact I prefer the quieter, more reflective orchestral sounds of Act 1, as I already indicated. I do not like the staging - what is the POINT of the horses' skulls - please!!

 Here are three of the Valkyries without the horses' skulls;

The scene between Sieglinde and Brunnhilde was very well done, culminating in Sieglinde's soaring, ecstatic 'O hehrstes Wunder!'

And then - and then - ah, Wotan's Farewell brought tears to my eyes, as he plumbs the depths of misery and despair. My only problem is that, midway through this, he bestows a rather unpaternal kiss upon her - I think their relationship is complicated enough without that, but - since he knows he is NEVER going to see her again, perhaps it is understandable??? (Doubtful!)

The production has a LOT of room for improvement, but cannot fault the performance - Antonio Pappano has assembled a wonderful team. It is also good to see how well and naturally they interact on stage.

DAS RHEINGOLD at Royal Opera House, 2 Oct 2012

Richard Wagner; DAS RHEINGOLD

Day one of DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 2 October 2012

CAST

Rhinemaidens

WOGLINDE                                                           Nadine Livingston
WELLGUNDE                                                       Kai Rúútel
FLOSSHILDE                                                        Harriet Williams

ALBERICH                                                             Wolfgang Koch

WOTAN                                                                  Bryn Terfel
FRICKA                                                                 Sarah Connolly

FREIA                                                                     Ann Petersen
FROH                                                                     Andrew Rees
DONNER                                                               Peter Coleman-Wright 
LOGE                                                                     Stig Andersen    

MIME                                                                      Gerhard Siegel

ERDA                                                                      Maria Radner


Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Conductor; SIR ANTONIO PAPPANO 

Director:                                  KEITH WARNER
Associate Director:              WALTER SUTCLIFFE
First Assistant Directors:    JUSTIN WAY and MICHAEL CSAR

A very good start to the second Ring Cycle. The house lights dimmed, and the E flat chord sounded from the darkness - I love the fact the opera starts as it were 'from nothing', without the conductor coming on to the poduim - Pappano waits for the applause till the end - and fully deserved the enthusiastic applause that greeted him! He led a wonderful team, the orchestra at the peak of its form, Pappano always managed to 'get under the skin' of Wagner's music and reach into the nuances of the score - I especially loved the transitions from the mysterious depths of the Rhine to the ethearal heights of Valhalla, the music really shimmered! (Valhalla didn't LOOK very ethereal, but I'll get to that!!)
                                      
The Wotan of Bryn Terfel was well matched with Wolfganf Koch's Alberich, the two arch-rivals ALMOST equal in stature, although Wotan seems to have won - for the moment.....but an interesting note was added at the end, when he decides NOT to lead the others into Valhalla, but instead.....descends into the bowels of the Earth to consult Erda. (Not sure who on the production team made this decision - it's perhaps a bit premature? ) Here are Wotan and Alberich literally head-to-head!!

                
At the beginning, before Alberich steals the gold, he seems almost tentative, but grows in power and malevolence in the Nibelheim scene; Mime (Gerhard Siegel) is almost his match in malevolence, but lacks the tragic grandeur that makes Alberich a distant cousin of Milton's Satan.

Stig Andersen as Loge sang well but perhaps didn't quite embody Loge's tricksy, ironic wit as much as one could have wished - he wasn't bad, but there seemed to be something lacking- perhaps he just needs. I found Sarah Connolly a wonderful Fricka - beautiful mezzo sound, and also intelligent characterisation; in Rheingold, she and Wotan are still not completely at odds, although obviously all is not well, ut she still hopes at this stage that she hasn't completely lost him. She and Freia are wearing very elegant Edwardian tea-gowns.

I will say a few words about the staging, starting with Fricka's costume! It lends itself to an interesting piece of stage business - Fasolt at one point goes to sit in a chair - and Fricka realises, with horror, that she has LEFT HER OVERDRESS ON IT - and the dirty PLEB is GOING TO SIT ON IT!!! She retrieves it as hastily as possible....the giants are characterised differently, with Fasolt (Iain Paterson) as the worker, in a cloth cap and working clothes, and Fafner (Eric Halvarson) as the Victorian capitalist in a top hat - when he removes the top hat, we see that his head is huge, building up almost to a point at the top.
Not all the production/staging is wonderful - the theft of the gold in particular seemed a bit perfunctory - indeed, since it is all well-expressed in the music, perhaps this didn't matter so much, but then in that case......why not do a concert performance?!!!

One piece of stagecraft which I absolutely loved was the transformation from the Rhine to Valhalla - as I said, musically this was very well done, and also deftly accomplished on the stage - the projections of a green 'net' that represents the Rhine are transformed into a spinning globe with Mercator projections, and you can see the continents and oceans being formed out of Pangaea - spectacular!!

The Tarnhelm is a giant Rubik's Cub - leads to some quite good visual gags in DAS RHEINGOLD, but leads to a spectacular failure in GOETTERDAMMERUNG - but I won't anticipate!

Musically a triumph - visually it had its good moments, but the overall impression was that the production could have been better!

And now for DIE WALKUERE!!

TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, Royal Opera House, 2 October 2009

Richard Wagner, TRISTAN UND ISOLDE

Cast

YOUNG SAILOR.............................Ji-Min Park (Jette Parker Principal)
ISOLDE...........................................Nina Stemme
BRANGAENE................................Sophie Koch
KURWENAL..................................Michael Volle
TRISTAN........................................Ben Heppner
MELOT...........................................Richard Berkeley-Steele
KING MARKE..............................John Tomlinson (29 Sept, 2, 5 Oct)
                                                      Matti Salminen (9, 15, 18 mat Oct)
SHEPHERD...............................Ryland Davies
STEERSMAN............................Dawid Kimberg (Jette Parker Young Artist)

Chorus and orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

CONDUCTOR........................................Antonio Pappano
DIRECTOR.............................................Christof Loy


I absolutely LOVED this peformance, including the staging....of which more later, since it has proved so controversial....but I will discuss the music first! (That's what I went for....the staging  was an added bonus).

Antonio Pappano could be the greatest Wagner conductor of our times. The prelude was so intense, so FOCUSED, reaching a pitch of almost unbearable tension at the climax......I was literally on the edge of my seat at this point, and it wasn't the last time; Pappano has great sensitivity to the nuances of the strange sound-world of TRISTAN, and transports us there right from the TRISTAN-chord. In fact it's the day after, and I am still trying to come down from my Wagner-induced high!
Right, the production....yes, it IS very sparse, austere, almost minimalist, and this is what I loved about it. I wasn't expecting to like it quite so much, although I did like Loy's LULU as well. What he did in LULU he has done again in TRISTAN, stripped it to its essentials so that the audience can concentrate on the text and the music, which was Wagner's point. After all, nothing 'happens' in TRISTAN, in the sense of stage business, it is nearly all narrative, as in Greek tragedy.

Behind the curtain that covers the back of the stage there is a dining room, so they are not really on a ship (although some irreverent souls suggested that it reminded them of the dining room on the TITANIC).
The drama unfolds in front of the curtain. Isolde (Nina Stemme) comes in front of the curtain wearing a white dress (possibly a wedding dress....some it has been suggested that the dining room represents the wedding breakfast of Marke and Isolde). She changes into a black dress for her confrontation with Tristan.

She is joined by Brangaene (Sophie Koch).

There is a striking contrast between the soaring soprano of Nina Stemme and the burnished mezzo of Sophie Koch....Stemme brings such passion and conviction to the role, as well as beauty of tone and soaring high notes; a really exciting, convincing portrayal of Isolde's confusion and desperation, her unwillingness to admit that she doesn't hate Tristan, she loves him. The Brangaene of Sophie Koch is an ideal foil to Stemme's Isolde.

There is one chair, on which sometimes Isolde sits, sometimes Brangaene....one of the fascinating pieces of stage business (with ONE CHAIR, and an almost bare stage!) is that when Kurwenal (Michael Volle) comes to summon them to land, he sits on the chair, stretches his legs out and puts his hands in his pocket....showing his dislike for Isolde even in body-language. He has a stong, ringing baritone, plays Kurwenal as a straightforward character, perhaps with a military background.
Ben Heppner, unfortunately, could not quite match Nina Stemme's achievement, his voice tended to crack rather alarmingly on the high notes.

But he recovered at the end of Act II, and sang "Wohin nun Tristan scheidet, willst du, Isolde, ihm folgen?" with beautiful serenity. And at this point, Kurwenal starts to shiver and pulls his jacket close, as if he is slowly realising....this isn't just rhetoric, he really means it.

 So yes, perhaps he could have been a bit more passionate in the Love Duet, but the orchestra under Pappano was really where the focus was, a very nuanced and sensitive portrayal of....well, it's not passion or love, really, is it, it's obsession. Neither singer was overwhelmed by the orchestra, but the music reached the heights of intensity which Heppner sometimes couldn't quite manage.

It must be admitted that John Tomlinson's voice has developed a noticeable wobble, but I thought in the final analysis this didn't detract from his portrayal of King Marke, torn between grief and anger, not really wanting to take the vengeance that Melot keeps urging on him...in the end it is the grief rather than the anger that gains the upper hand with this tragic figure.

At the end of the act, neither of them having swords, Melot pulls a knife and Tristan runs on to it....

I will just mention, before turning to discussing Act III in general, that perhaps the staging of this could have been better managed, and the fact that at the end of Act III one of the chorus ends up bludgeoning Kurwenal to death was the one flaw in this otherwise excellently staged production...there is really no reason why he shouldn't die off-stage. But this is so minor, really, as the production - the staging, was generally of such a high standard.

Act III is Tristan's act, just as Act I is Isolde's. It is true that Heppner was still a little bit plagued by the cracks in the high notes, but in a way this was almost in character for the dying, hallucinating Tristan. Again the scenery is reduced to a minimum, a chair for Tristan and a table, on which sometimes Kurvenal sits while he is listening to Tristan, trying to make sense of what he is saying...but Tristan isn't really communicating with anyone, except in his mind with Isolde. Heppner achieved a melancholy beauty of tone when Tristan thinks back to his orphaned childhood.....and then Nina Stemme crowned the evening with her passionate, soaring performance of the Liebestod, at the end of which she falls exhausted into the chair......

A final moment of searing tension, again supported with great intensity by the orchestra under Pappano.

I will finish by saying that I found this staging brilliant and inspirational...I literally do not understand why people booed it. I found that it went right to the heart of the drama, supporting and emphasising every nuance of the text and the music.

LA TRAVIATA, Royal Opera House, 3 July 2009

(This performance took place in July, but I have only now been able to transfer this review from the old blog).

LA TRAVIATA, Royal Opera House, 3 July 2009

Cast

Violetta...............................................Renee Fleming
Flora...................................................Monika-Evelin Liiv
Marquis d'Obigny.............................Kostas Smorignas
Baron Douphol................................ .Eddie Wade
Doctor Grenvil...................................Richard Wiegold
Gastone.............................................Haoyin Xue
Alfredo...............................................Jospeh Calleja
Anina..................................................Sarah Pring
Giuseppe..........................................Neil Gillespie
Giorgio Germont..............................Thomas Hampson
Messenger.......................................''Charbel Mattar
Servant...............................................Jonathan Coad



Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, conducted by Antonio Pappano

Such a wonderful performance, with a dream cast and conductor! Right from the first note of the prelude, Pappano conjured incredibly wistful sounds from the orchestra, and the entire performance was of this high standard.


Renee Fleming was the best Violetta I have seen in years, looking beautiful though fragile, as Violetta should. She gave a very nuanced performance in Act I, pensive in fors'e lui and frenetic in Sempre libera, with a sub-text almost of hysteria, as she acknowledges that she knows she is dying, and is determined to enjoy what life remains to her. I was delighted that she and Pappano didn't leave a space for the audience to applaud between the two halves of the aria!! (They did at the rehearsal...my view is that it spoils the continuity by interrupting Violetta's train of thought).


Calleja as Alfredo was perhaps less subtle and sensitive in Act I, but then he is playing a rather unsubtle and insensitive young man, so this was in character! Certainly he sang the high notes of his Act II arias with ringing confidence.

Thomas Hampson brought his usual mellifluousness of tone and elegance of person to a character with whom the audience usually has difficulty in sympathising.

One has to realise that Alfredo's father is, by his lights, doing his best for his family, by trying to ensure that his daughter- and, in the fullness of time, his son - can make an avantageous marriage, and the tragedy is that Violetta realises that, in that social milieu, he is right and she can't win...Fleming conveys this so movingly, and Hampson gives the father a feeling of humanity underneath the self-righteousness. I have included a YouTube clip of this scene.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIGWNBgMzt8

I've never heard anyone sing "Amami, Alfredo" with such passion and desperation, and the orchestra reflected Violetta's feelings with equal intensity....I had already started to cry during the scene between Violetta and the father, but this literally had me sobbing. (I didn't bother to try to control it, as nearly everyone else in the audience, at least near me, was crying too!)



I'll just make a few comments about the production. It's a 'conventional' production, i.e. set in the nineteenth century, but I don't have a problem with that!! In the first act, Violetta is wearing a white dress, which one might have thought was unsuitable for a woman in her profession, but (a) it's a beautiful dress and Fleming looks gorgeous in it (b) in fact the statement she is making is..."I can afford this". When she comes to Flora's party in Act II, she is wearing a equally expensive and bejewelled black dress.

After the shocking scene in which Alfredo throws the money at her, the father gives her his hand and escorts her from the room - this wasn't done in the production before, could it have been Thomas Hampson's idea? It's this sort of detail that makes or breaks a production. The point is that just after Alfredo has thrown the money and she collapses, the father offers to help her and she turns away, but then later she accepts his help....



The Prelude to Act III was unbearably poignant - of course, as I intimated, I had already started crying long before. "Addio del passato", of which she gets both verses, was heartbreaking, I am sure that she and the orchestra deserved the applause but for me, I just sat in stunned silence!