Verdi - La Traviata
Opéra National de Paris – Bastille - Friday May 23, 2003 Conductor: Nicola Luisotti. Director: Jonathan Miller. Violetta Valery: Patricia Racette. Flora Bervoix: Svetlana Lifar. Annina: Allison Cook. Alfredo Germont: Tito Beltran. Giorgio Germont: Roberto Frontali. Gastone: Mihajlo Arsenski. Barone Douphol: Michael Druiett. Marchese d'Obigny: Yuri Kissin. Dottor Grenvil: Christian Tréguier. My approach to La Traviata is to fear the worst, in the hopes of a nice surprise. It has never yet worked. Jonathan Millers' career can only, to me, be understood in the UK context. His Paris production of La Traviata was everything UK critics like: no ideas*, mediocre, "realistic" scenery, ugly, ill-fitting costumes, an occasional touch of feeble humor, choreography worse than feeble... Last night at the Bastille we were practically transported to London. It's a cliché to say that the role of Violetta requires at least two kinds of soprano, and that singers can rarel...