La Traviata – Verdi, WNO, Birmingham Hippodrome, 11 November, 2023, On tour ‘til 25 November, 2023. 5*****: David Gray & Paul Gray.

La Traviata – Verdi, WNO, Birmingham Hippodrome, 11 November 2023, On tour ‘til 25 November 2023.

5*****: David Gray & Paul Gray.

There is a lot to be said for productions of operas like La Traviata, firmly set in a particular social context, that just leave them there, and not try to do anything self-consciously clever; the idea is to just let the music and the story speak for themselves. This is one such production - which is not to say that it isn’t’ full of wonderful ideas.

The set is dressed in ruched black crepe – a momento morir, presaging the forthcoming tragedy. It is all very elegant, but slightly dishevelled: a disordered dinner table caught in mid-feast, blousy flowers (camelia perhaps) scattered around the stage, chairs randomly scattered in the second scene. We are, after all, in the demi-monde, the decadent under-belly of society.

There is a perverse veneer of propriety; the decadence is hypocritically hidden - gentlemen rush, like naughty schoolboys, to catch sight of a chorus girl’s bloomers when, in truth, they have already seen so much more. It is a clever, detailed and subtle staging.

Set against all of this is the father figure, Giorgio Germont who is not part of that world. In many productions we are invited to warm to him by the end of the second scene. Not so here. Verdi characterises him well. His vocal lines are short and fussy, in contrast to the seemingly endless lines of the other characters. He is not an emotionally approachable character. Mark S Doss captures this perfectly. A towering stage presence with a rich, crisply edged voice. He only becomes sympathetic to us, having embraced the awfulness of his actions, in the final scene.

He is well cast, as are all three major principles. David Junghoon Kim as Alfredo has power and steel in his voice, but he uses this sparingly. Singing with a warm, almost mezzo-voce. He has a powerfully projected tone, although through much of the opera he delivers a tender, breathlessly romantic vocal characterisation. Shy and reticent and beautifully naïve during the first two scenes, but then he throws himself with passion and commitment into the last two.

In the title role, Stacey Alleaume is simply breathtaking. Her Violetta is a feisty, tough survivor with whom you would not want to mess. Hers is a rich, glossy tone throughout the range, with dazzling coloratura and crystalline top notes. In the final scene she finds a wonderful solution to the ironic dissonance between a dazzling operatic diva playing a woman dying of consumption; she makes every precious breath count, as though it were her last. An astonishingly complete realisation. Alleaume really is someone to watch as her career develops.

In the party scenes the chorus are clearly having a whale of a time. In the pit, a truly remarkable and incisive conductor, Alexander Joel - together the WNO Orchestra - are tight in ensemble and provide pointed and dramatic coloration. The organic way Verdi’s melodic lines grow out of one another as the drama develops is beautifully highlighted.

This is a topflight show demonstrating again that WNO deliver opera of real significance.

Cast

Violetta Valery – Stacey Alleaume

Alfredo Germont – David Junghoon Kim

Giorgio Germont – Mark S Doss

Baron Douphol – James Cleverton

Annina – Sain Meinir

Marquis d’Obigny – Philip Lloyd-Evans

Gaston – Howard Kirk

Dr Grenvil – Martin Lloyd

Flora Bervoix – Fancesco Saracino

Messenger – George Newton-Fitzgerald

Giuseppe – Simon Crosby Buttle

Creatives

Conductor – Alexander Joel

Original Director – Sir David McVicar

Director – Sarah Crisp

Designer – Tanya McCallin

Lighting – Jennifer Tipton