Classical 18: Verdi’s La Traviata – Pt. 1

(A) Introduction

Earlier this year I got hitched, and we went to Rome for part of our honeymoon.  Our hotel was right around the corner from the Teatro Dell’Opera di Roma – a nice old opera house reconstructed by the fascists.  Italy being the epicenter of opera, and Rome being the epicenter of Italy, I thought it would be nifty to see an opera while we were in town.  (Plus, my wife got a chance to wear her jaw-droppingly sexy red dress).  We were in luck – we got booth tickets for a proper Italian work, La Traviata.  It was sumptuous inside, and the performance was really good. 

(B) Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

Verdi is one of the Italian masters of the opera.  He dominated the scene for half a century.  His career spanned a period of increased Italian nationalism and the unification of Italy.  Verdi openly supported those causes.

Verdi was another Romantic composer.  He was also a bit of a populist, and was criticized for catering to the tastes of the unwashed masses.  There was plenty of melodrama in his operas, which must’ve given them a bit of a ‘trashy’ feel at the time.  Bourgeois pigs!  However, his best works have had an indelible imprint on the genre of opera, and continue to be some of the most popular operas even to this day.

 (C) La Traviata, Act I

La Traviata is the story of Violetta, a famed courtesan who falls in love, gives up her old life as a high-rent prostitute, but ultimately can’t escape from her past. 

She abandons her partying ways for the love of Alfredo, but his dad, Germont, isn’t happy – her reputation is ruining Alfredo’s (and the family’s) name and future.  Germont tells her that if she really loves Alfredo, she’ll leave him – because her presence is ruining his life.  She finally does, returning to her dissolute lifestyle (I’m sure she partied with Don Giovanni).  Alfredo pursues her and humiliates her at a party by throwing money at her – payment for ‘services rendered’ when they lived happily together.  Violetta gets so distraught, so lovesick, that she collapses.  She catches consumption.  Alfredo learns that she sacrificed her love for his future, and comes to see her.  Having reconciled with her lover, and gained absolution, she dies in his arms.  It’s a slow, painful and melodic death, as she sings all the way into nothingness.

The moral of the story seems to be “a whore can’t live a happy life”.  But these days, with the mainstreaming of porn, it seems far more likely that she can.

 Act I: Prelude

The opera starts out a little mellow and melodic, emotional but not excessively so.  If the opening is any indication, this opera is going to be more depressing than Don Giovanni, and probably won’t feature a talking statue…

 Act I: “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” (The “Brindisi” or “Drinking Song”) (Alfredo, Violetta, chorus)

This is a famous song, one of the more recognizable pieces from La Traviata.  We see Verdi’s populist sensibilities include a good ol’ drinking song.  Who says opera is stuffy and proper?

Act I: Un di, felice, eterea (Alfredo, Violetta)

A nice, gentle duet with the male and female voices playing well off each other.

Act I: E strano! E strano! (Violetta),

Act I: Ah, fors’ e lui (Violetta),

Act I: Follie! Follie! (Violetta), and

Act I: Sempre libera (Violetta, Alfredo)

These four pieces are solos for Violetta.  Man, do they ever sound difficult.  The singer must have incredible control over her voice – she riffs and licks like a guitar solo.  It’s amazing… but it’s also really hard to listen to.  I’ve got my headphones on at work and my cubicle neighbours are complaining that the headphones are ‘squeaking’.  This is the kind of stuff I remember as a kid: some woman screeching in a foreign language.  While I do appreciate the virtuosity (and watching it live was pretty gnarly too), it’s wearing me out.  Then again, there’s only so much of a Steve Vai guitar solo you can listen to before tuning it out (as I did at the Whitesnake “Slip of the Tongue” concert in Miami in 1990- metalhead name drop!)

(D) Commentary

The performance we saw in Rome was great, and the audience really got into it.  I heard yells of “bravo!” after the second act, and Germont came out to bow to the crowd after the act ended.  Italians are really knowledgeable and comfortable with opera, unlike North American audiences who seem more focused on being seen at the opera than on enjoying the show.

The woman who played Violetta was absolutely amazing.  I think it was Myrtò Papatanasiu (she’s the one in the pic at the top of this post).  It took her a high note or two to warm up, but afterwards she nailed her parts, especially during the Act I solos.  Not only does she have the chops, but she had a vivacious sparkle to her performance.  I found myself instantly liking her, and rooting for her.  She had attitude, spirit, and charm in abundance.

The recording I’m listening to for this post is a 1953 recording that features Maria Callas as Violetta.  She’s one of the most famous sopranos of the 20^th century, and even metalheads like me recognize the name.  But, to be honest, I liked Papatanasiu’s performance better.

(E) What I’ve Learned

-Verdi is one of Italy’s greatest opera composers.  He was a populist and politically active too, it seems – things which the traditional opera community was mildly scandalized by.

-Like Don Giovanni, this is an opera about someone’s sordid past coming back to haunt them.  But unlike Don Giovanni, the main character in La Traviata actually tries to escape her past.

-Verdi didn’t use any recitativos in La Traviata – it’s all full-blown singing except for a moment or two