La traviata - Verdi
Opera Ireland's new Traviata, directed by Stephan Grogler and designed by Veronique Seymat, opens out the Gaiety stage even beyond the limits seen in a number of recent opera product ions. The audience is con fronted only with the metal shutter of the back wall, but can also see out into the wings. With the constant use of red velvet bench seating (presented in a long row in Act I) the effect is rather like dumping Violetta and her friends into a rundown warehouse for a liquidation sale of pub fittings.
The green-swarded, flower-bedecked piano stools of Act II call for a mention, too, as does the painting-by-numbers brothel created for Flora's salon (complete with dominatrix behaviour within the chorus), and some absurd angry antics foisted on Alfredo, which merely made some people around me snigger. That said, this is actually as gripping a Traviata as the Gaiety has heard in a long time.
Regina Nathan, a few moments of mid-range weakness apart, is a strongly-characterised Violetta, both radiant and intimate, revealing with skill her internal conflicts of will and compassion. Audiences at the Gaiety are not accustomed to singing with the detailed emotionalism and finely-gauged vocal responses she offered, and the unequivocal nature of their enthusiastic response on the opening night ranks as a clear personal triumph.
French tenor Jean-Pierre Furlan's Alfredo is more hit and miss, interestingly handling the Act I Brindisi with an intensity not born of recklessness, but too often later lapsing into pressured routine.
The Danish baritone Guido Paevatalu has gravitas and warm humanity as Alfredo's father - the Act II confrontation with Violetta is thoroughly absorbing - and the young Irish soprano Michele Sheridan makes a promising debut as Violetta's maid, Annina.
Conductor Jerome Pillement seems the soul of sensitivity after last month's unfeeling Belfast account for Castleward under Valentin Reymond, and the RTECO, though not accident-free, are in generally responsive form.
