ASTOR FILMLOUNGE Berlin
LA TRAVIATA live aus der Royal Opera London mit Ermonela Jaho

Dieses Kino ist wirklich Oberklasse. Zum Empfang Freigetränk, neben jedem Platz ein Tischchen, 1,5 Meter Beinfreiheit, Liegesessel, Hocker zum Füße hochlegen, Bedienung mit Speis und Trank am Platz, Garderobe wie im Theater... Das alles macht den Abend neben der großartigen Aufführung zusätzlich zum schönen Erlebnis.

#ErmonelaJaho #Oper #Verdi #LaTraviata #Berlin #RoyalOpera #London #Kino

ASTOR FILMLOUNGE Berlin
LA TRAVIATA live aus der Royal Opera London mit Ermonela Jaho.

Abgesehen davon, dass heute abend ein Sänger:innenfest zu erleben war, habe ich noch nie jemanden auf einer Bühne so ergreifend sterben gesehen. *noch in Tränen geschrieben*

#ErmonelaJaho #Oper #Verdi #LaTraviata #Berlin #RoyalOpera #London #Kino

Noch gar nix Schlimmes passiert und schon zweimal Tränen... Ermonela Jaho ist einfach unfassbar intensiv.

#ErmonelaJaho #Oper #Verdi #LaTraviata #Berlin #RoyalOpera #London #Kino

ASTOR FILMLOUNGE Berlin
LA TRAVIATA live aus der Royal Opera London mit Ermonela Jaho.

Bald geht's los....

#ErmonelaJaho #Oper #Verdi #LaTraviata #Berlin #RoyalOpera #London #Kino

Wenn die wunderbare Sängerin und Darstellerin Ermonela Jaho nicht nach Berlin kommt, dann muss man halt andere Wege finden, sie in der Rolle der Violetta zu erleben: Heute geht es in die ASTOR FILMLOUNGE Berlin, hier ist heute eine Liveübertragung von LA TRAVIATA aus der Royal Opera London mit ihr in der Hauptrolle zu erleben.

#ErmonelaJaho #Oper #Verdi #LaTraviata #Berlin #RoyalOpera #London #Kino

Bildquelle: Astor Film Lounge/Royal Opera

Schöne Idee: der Operntherapeut.

Im LIBRETTO #5, dem kleinen Werbeheft der Deutschen Oper Berlin, gibt es die Rubrik Der Operntherapeut. Hier werden Opernfiguren "auf die Couch gelegt".
In dieser Ausgabe: Alfredo Germont aus LA TRAVIATA...

"Er liebt bedingungslos, reagiert impulsiv und verliert im entscheidenden Moment die Kontrolle: Alfredo Germont sucht Hilfe, weil ihm die eigene Eifersucht zu entgleiten droht. Ein Fall für den Operntherapeuten."

#Oper #Berlin #DeutscheOper #LaTraviata

Adela Zaharia shines in overwhelming La traviata  

‘I return to life! Oh joy!’ sings Adela Zaharia at the end of La traviata. Unassailable she stands on her tombstone, her arm raised to heaven as if she were the American Statue of Liberty. Dismay among the bystanders, as she clearly breathes her last with these words. The orchestra puts an end to her suffering with some sturdy accents and terrifying drum rolls, after which the audience erupts in a deafening howl and whistle that almost shakes the Amsterdam Music Theatre to its foundations.

Rightly so, as the Romanian soprano puts in a phenomenal performance in this reprise of Verdi’s opera by Dutch National Opera. She has an exceptionally agile voice that swells from whisper-soft to ear-splitting forte in seconds, remaining flawless and warm even in the highest registers. Along with this comes an unsurpassed empathy that carries you along as a listener from beginning to end: she does not sing the role of Violetta, she is Violetta. – When, after meeting Alfredo, she doubts whether she dares to hope for true love and exhorts herself, above all, to enjoy herself and be cheerful, this sounds like a cry of despair.

Lonely presence

Director Tatjana Gürbaca emphasises her loneliness by placing Violetta centrally for the full duration of the opera, on a stage in an otherwise bare space. In the first act this is still adorned with a ceiling-high Klee-style painting, in the second and third we merely peer into a black hole – symbolizing the vacuity of Parisian mundane life? Even in her immaculately white dress with blood-red lower edge – a reference to the tuberculosis that will fell her – Violetta contrasts sharply with her largely black-clad surroundings.

Although the opera is full of powerful imagery, with tableaux-vivants beautifully performed by chorus and extras, the direction is somewhat at odds with the content of the libretto. The people around Violetta are constantly flirting and whoring, even during her most dramatic moments. Sometimes even with strapped-on dicks, breasts and excessive bunches of pubic hair. During her death scene, her servant Annika (the wonderful soprano Inna Demenkova) is banging away with a servant in the background. A rather one-dimensional portrayal of the ‘lust’ in which Violetta claims to perish.

Christ figure

In the third act, she is thrown back and forth as a manikin and even ‘raped’ by two men. But Violetta is an extremely strong woman who has amassed capital by pairing up with rich men as a courtesan: she cannot be messed with. That only changes when she falls madly in love with Alfredo (the beautifully singing Ukrainian tenor Bogdan Volkov) and retreats to her estate with him. – Where she maintains him.

When his petty-bourgeois father (the equally convincing baritone George Petean) asks her to give up Alfredo up because otherwise his sister’s fiancée may snub her, she shows her true strength. Although he is the love of her life, she finally agrees and repels Alfredo. Even when he furiously tosses money at her in front of the entire beau monde, claiming to have settled his debt, she continues to love him. In her selflessness and sacrifice, Violetta takes on traits of a Christ figure. Her poignant aria ‘Alfredo, Alfredo, di questo core’ pierces the heart.

Resignation

Led by Italian conductor Andrea Battistoni, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra plays adequately, but also somewhat robustly. Sure, Verdi’s music is close to that of village brass bands, but Battistoni too eagerly emphasizes this oom-pah-aspect. Also fast passages are often uneven, and the melting lyricism of the plaintive string theme that runs as a thread through the opera could sound more sultry and seductive.

In contrast, a beautifully compelling oboe encircles Violetta with graceful cantilenas in her aria ‘Teneste la promessa…’, underlining her resignation. The Dutch National Opera Chorus sings superbly as ever, whatever unappetising poses the singers have to squirm into.

The final scene, with Violetta lonely on one of the now dismantled containers that formed her stage is breath-taking. The choir members place lit candles around her and Alfredo’s father hands her a bouquet of white flowers. Reaching for heaven, Violetta regains the freedom she has cherished all her life. This production of La traviata is poignant and unforgettable, especially thanks to Adela Zaharia, who moves us to the depths of our hears.

Heard 31 January 2024, Dutch National Opera Amsterdam. The production runs through 18 February

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLXCEkIXnm8&ab_channel=LadyIzolde

#AdeleZaharia #BogdonVolkov #GeorgePetean #GiuseppeVerdi #LaTraviata