Triumphant return for an operatic masterpiece
DURING the run-up to the Scottish premiere of Verdi’s La traviata at the Dunlop Street Theatre Royal in Glasgow on February 20, 1857, the Presbyterian church launched whole-heartedly into one of its regular fits of apoplexy.
The upcoming performances provoked massive controversy, as minister after grim Geneva minister thundered from his pulpit, denouncing ‘the immoralities of the Italian opera’.
Thankfully – and predictably – the furious tirades against The Fallen Woman had the usual effect, with the Glasgow Herald’s Popular Amusements column reporting ‘crowded and highly delighted audiences’.
Despite the lack of such dubious clerical intervention today, I am pleased to report that there have been ‘crowded and highly delighted audiences’ from the start of Scottish Opera’s current staging at the Hope Street Theatre Royal.
It is, of course, a revival of Glasgow-born Sir David McVicar’s triumphant 2008 production, in partnership with Welsh National Opera, Gran Teatre Del Liceu and Teatro Real Madrid.
Still triumphant it is, too, despite the fact the plot is patently absurd. Infamous courtesan falls for naïve youth, gives up life of luxury to finance bucolic countryside idyll with him, meekly acquiesces when his brutish father demands she end the relationship to save the family name, goes back to her old ways, dies of consumption while those who survive live unhappily ever after. Still, I suppose patent absurdity is the lifeblood of the operatic plot.
It is, however, undeniably and gloriously tragic. The composer himself was no stranger to tragedy, with his first wife and their two young children passing away within a very short period of time.
Perhaps this played a part in him creating one of the greatest of all operatic tragedies – and one of the greatest of all operatic heroines.
Violetta Valéry, La traviata, The Fallen Woman is one of the most challenging, yet most rewarding, for any soprano. She must run the whole gamut of the soprano range, from coloratura to lyric to dramatic; she must be high, flexible, warm, deep, dark and dramatic. It is a big ask – but the rewards for success can be equally huge.
ON the first night of this production in Glasgow, Russian soprano Gulnara Shafigullina dominated the stage – to be fair, a good Violetta can hardly fail to do so. But she was better than good. She was, in truth, quite magnificent.
Spellbinding, heartbreaking, furious, vulnerable, she spent much of her time onstage – and she is onstage much of the time – daring the audience to take its eyes off her.
The part of her young lover, Alfredo, is more problematic. Not really one of the great male roles – indeed, he can run a constant risk of being overshadowed by his father – it can also be quite a tricky one to pull off.
It is almost always inadvisable for an Alfredo to try to upstage his Violetta. Wisely, Dutch tenor Peter Gijsbertsen made no attempt to do so, preferring instead to portray his lovestruck and eventually heartbroken self as her foil; almost a mirror reflecting her moods. His smooth, occasionally almost rich, performance was the better for it.
Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont, is deeply unattractive. A natural bully, he has few, if any, redeeming qualities. I do hope baritone Stephen Gadd will forgive me for saying he captured the essence of the role perfectly.
La traviata is a proper opera – and it was great to see it being properly
presented in Sir David’s sumptuous production. Now that he is once again based in Glasgow, we can only hope Scotland’s greatest opera director will not be a stranger to Scottish Opera. La traviata, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, tomorrow, November 28 and 30 and December 2; His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen, November 2 and 4; Eden Court, Inverness, November 7, 9 and 11; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, November 15, 19, 21, 23 and 25.