The Passion of Opera

Ah, a starring part of the repertoire starring a star. Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata  has always been a beloved work. I will openly say that I personally, however, don't find it to have the most convincing plot. Though it is saved, to some extent, by the fact that Violetta knows she is doomed to die before she even meets Alfredo, it just does not seem particularly compelling to me that she dies from an inevitable sickness. Still, this production was able to bring, at least in its final moments, emotional impact even to someone such as myself. An element of this production divisive to the population as a whole, however, is Natalie Dessay. Dessay is portrayed often as being in vocal decline, and many might object that Violetta is too large for her voice (through experiences with DVDs, I was inclined to say the same). Nonetheless, she is one of the seminal performers of recent years. Tonight, though not without some small warbles, she really impressed me with her singing, but...

This review comes a bit after the fact due to my hasty departure to Prague (and on the way to Krakow and Budapest). However, I thought I would review my third opera seen in standing room at the Wiener Staatsoper, Richard Strauss' Arabella . The production was avantgarde in some ways, and relatively standard in others. It was well produced and the singing was, for the most part, very well done. On the evening I saw the production, I found that it got better and better as it went along, after a somewhat lackluster first act. I must apologize that this review will be slightly shorter as I am also trying to blog about my travels throughout Europe; I wanted to write this review while Arabella  was still fresh in my mind, but I did not have access to a cast list while travelling. Therefore I will do my best to reconstruct my opinions a week and a half after the fact. Conductor - Franz Welser-Möst Director - Sven-Eric Bechtolf Set Design - Rolf Glittenberg Costumes - Marianne Glitt...