La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi

Since my decision to focus on the comic operas is rather recent, whereas my habit of booking tickets months in advance is not, I still have a number of, shall we say, not so light operas to review. One such example is Verdi's La Traviata that I attended in (at?) Bastille on December 11, 2018. I will try hard not to spoil the plot for those who do not know it, but let us just say that it fits well into your regular operatic storyline. You know, the one with a foreseeable yet dramatic death at the end (oops, sorry!)

Main characters: meet Violetta, a courtesan living a perfectly instagrammable life in XIX century Paris. Meet Alfredo, a young man from a "good" family who has fallen in love with her prior to their actual first meeting, I believe.

Violetta is touched by Alfredo's pure (or premature, if you ask my opinion) affection, and they begin a relationship. A few months after, the guy's father comes to plead with her to leave his son alone because she is ruining the family's reputation. The horror. <\shrug\>

I understand that it was a different time back then, so no matter how ridiculous the situation, I am not holding this part of the plot against Verdi (or rather, Alexandre Dumas Jr, whose La Dame aux camélias the libretto was based upon). But my god, is Violetta enjoying playing the victim during the father's visit! I can be a bit of a drama queen myself at times, and I can certainly sympathize with what she must be going through, but next time I am about to lose it, I'll think of that aria and hopefully that alone will be enough for me to keep myself together.

Aesthetics-wise, the music was beautiful and so was the set. By the way, do you notice how each of us somehow comes to learn a handful of opera tunes before ever setting foot in a theater? Alfredo’s “toast” aria in the first act is definitely one of these instantly recognizable pieces. Here is a recording from the Met (unrelated note: I found the cast to be much more suitable for the roles in the production that I attended). I dare you to take a peek and tell me you’ve never heard it before! Where do opera bits make it into in our everyday life though? Laundry detergent commercials on TV? Hotel elevator playlists? I give up.

The set, designed by Sylvain Chauvelot, was super elaborate and cool; here are some pictures I got off the official website:

Image credit: Sébastien Mathé, Opera National de Paris

Seating to avoid in Opera Bastille, Paris

I had trouble hearing Violetta's parts at times, which may have been due to where I was sitting: row 35, place 23 in the parterre (again, that was Opera Bastille, not Palais Garnier). There are a couple of pocket-like areas on that level that I would advise you to avoid, the acoustics seem to take a hit.

My final highly subjective verdict: 5/10 (why not, but don’t go out of your way to attend)

XOXO

Olga