A Girl's Guide to Love and Opera: La Traviata
The story of La Traviata , the great Verdi opera, is classic 19th century female-disaster prone and turns on the love life of a woman with loose morals (see Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina, Nana et al) who has a change of heart. The original novel by Dumas, La Dame aux Camelias, has been the basis for many offspring including the Garbo film, Camille.
Violetta Valery, our doomed heroine, becomes a reformed party girl, probably the very worst kind. Notorious for her prior relationships with a variety of men, Vi makes mincemeat out of the heart of Alfredo, the scion of a wealthy family -- and then compounds the debris by actually falling in love with him.
Anna Netrebko (Violetta Valéry). Photo by Terrence McCarthy
And where is it set? Why, Paris of course, home to all bad girls, sooner or later.
The anti-heroines of 19th century literature and opera are beautiful, sexy, irresistible Carrie Bradshaws who get consumption instead of Manolos, all because of falling in love with the wrong Mr. Big.
You know how some mothers remind you from birth you can just as easily fall in love with a rich man? Well Violetta has more or less been following this path.
And what does she do to try to get over him? Why resort to the default naturally: go out and party more.
Anna Netrebko (Violetta Valéry). Photo by Terrence McCarthy
Last weekend, I saw the divine Anna Netrebko in San Francisco strut Violetta's stuff, rejiggered to the Flapper Era. Here was Violetta as Zelda Fitzgerald, a madcap heroine throwing herself onto overstuffed beds instead of into pools.
The gorgeous music from La Traviata will be recognizable to even the most opera-adverse among you, so download it. If one of my sons can actually accompany me to the opera, the least you can do is this -- it will make you cry every time you hear it.
Love songs, especially those that express longing and misery -- are often the way in which we survive relationships, especially when they are fraught with heartache.
San Franciscans have a chance to see Anna Netrebko, whose voice has only improved since motherhood (all of you who are complaining about multi-tasking, think what it would be like to be an opera diva, whose schedule is a bear, running all over the world, without the father of your baby, whom you haven't even had time to marry, having to be in perfect voice and working nights) a few more times.
Anna Netrebko (Violetta Valéry). Photo by Cory Weaver
Angelenos are also in the midst of a lauded Traviata cycle and soon in Santa Fe you can catch Natalie Dessay, an actual French dynamo, sing it there. New Yorkers will have to wait until next season at the Met, when they do a Traviata of their own. It's the third most performed opera after Madame Butterfly and La Boheme -- two more operas with courtesan heroines.
Don't feel sorry for the courtesans -- they mostly had it nailed: they had all the perks of hanging out with rich men and none of the tedious obligations of the wives. Watching these operas makes it seem like this might be something we have to bring back a little bit: making men aspire to having us even if they have to give up everything in order to do it.
It's never too late to break a heart or two.
Check out your local opera's summer schedule or Met's summer series of free concerts and HD presentations.
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Oh, the state of the opera world is in deep dispair. I am sure there are many very serious, very poignant and much more "high brow" reviews of Netrebko's performance along with mentions of her counter parts, the chorus, and the orchestra, and the hall and the director... There are SO MANY of those types of reviews like this, they speak to the already initiated who have their own opinions and are a dying breed. This particular review is not meant for you guys. This is obviously directed to a younger female who may never have seen an opera. Its says "Hey, let me ease you into this so you might grow to appreciate the wonderful spectacle that opera can be. Here is an analogy you can relate to. Here is something to make opera less scary for you."
You guys need to get off your high horses or stick with the Opera News.
How refreshing to read an account of a great work of art memorably executed, reduced to the level of an imbecilic TV show. But Zohn is surely right in saying, "Don't feel sorry for the courtesans -- they mostly had it nailed." That explains why there are so many classic accounts of happily-retired aged practitioners of the craft.
Who is this reviewer? Has she ever been to an opera (never mind knowing the story and the libretto)?
What a mess this review is. She is obviously not a serious devotee of opera or knowledgeable in any way! Was Ms. Netrebko the only person who sang that evening?
Ms. Zohn, this review is a travesty. Not only do you proceed to say NOTHING about Anna Netrebko's voice, but you fail to say anything about the other singers in the cast. She sounds better after pregnancy? Ok, fine, but you fail to elaborate on this point at all. You compare Violetta ("Vi"? really? how stupid) to Carrie Bradshaw, which is an absolutely inane comparison. Carrie Bradshaw was, at best, Lehar operetta. She never reached the emotional and dramatic heights that Violetta reaches in "La Traviata". Furthermore, you state that Mimi and Cio-Cio San were courtesans which is not true in the least.
You also state that courtesans had it "nailed". Did you actually SEE the opera? Courtesan's were completely at the mercy of the men they serviced. The opera is named "La Traviata" (the fallen woman) for a reason. Her existence from the beginning is a fairly miserable one (she almost faints within minutes of her first entrance...she isn't well!). The world she lives in appears lavish and glamorous, but it's a tenuous demi-monde where you are always made to feel that it could all come tumbling down at any moment. Like it or not, "La Traviata" is a morality tale, not a paean to the glories of prostitution (for that you have to look to the earliest operatic masterwork "L'incoronazione di Poppea").
I am all for writing opera reviews in a breezy and modern style, but not when they belittle the art form.
I agree with you. However, Anna's voice at best is mezzo. In fact her best performance, in my opinion and I barely know the technicalities, was as Manon with Villazon. I love listening to and watching Anna's performances. Performing after pregnancy certainly is a large task and kudos to Anna for coming back. However, she does have some miles to travel. I do believe that she is yet give her best and has not peaked yet.
As to opera reviews in a breezy and modern style : Well comparing Vi to Carrie Bradshaw is a travesty. I believe my sentiments about the style has been laid bare.
EXACTLY RIGHT, Tamerlano!
And let us not forget that both, Violetta and Mimi, die of tuberculosis at the end of the opera (hardly a glamorous end) while Cio-Sio san stabs herself to death with her father's dagger after her only son is taken away from her by his American father.
I can't understand how this reviewer concluded that these poor women "mostly have it nailed" nor how their lives compare to those of the 'liberated and empowered" party girls in Sex and the City.
The message deep down in all three operas was how POWERLESS those women were!
La Traviata.....wonderful wonderful beautiful Opera. Captivating from the start. There is nothing like it.
Some years ago a production of "La Traviata" came to Portland with Faye Dunaway in the lead role, but I never got a chance to see it.
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