La Traviata

La Traviata at the Metropolitan Opera

Ken Howard © 2010 The Metropolitan Opera.

I wondered what would be made of this (2010) Metropolitan Opera production of La Traviata by anyone who did not know its usual belle époque staging. Violetta enters during the prelude and walks through a brain shaped purgatory towards an oversized clock over which God presides. This is fine for the prelude but as the rest of the opera is set in the utterly superficial realm of society, there is only so much that the psycho/purgatorial setting can do for it before the dramatic tension of the plot makes it seem desperate for relevance. But the singing was superb, starring Sonya Yoncheva and Michael Fabianao, who are part of the new push for young and pretty opera stars to replace some fabulous singers of yore who have been given the boot because they don’t look good on cinema simulcasts. 

Watch Sonya Yoncheva and Michael Fabiano in an excerpt from La Traviata: