SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Verdi, La traviata: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of  Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bruno Bartoletti (conductor) Lyric Opera Center, Chicago 29.9.2007 (JLZ)

Production:
Director - Frank Corsaro
Designer -  Desmond Heeley
Lighting -  Christine Binder
Chorus Master -  Donald Nally

Cast:
Violetta Valery - Elizabeth Futral

Alfredo Germont - Joseph Calleja

Giorgio Germont - Mark Delevan

Flora Bervoix - Buffy Baggott

Gastone - David Portillo

Baron Douphol - Philip Kraus

Elizabeth Futral as Violetta

Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its 2007-2008 season with an impressive and moving performance of Verdi's La traviata. As familiar as this work can be, Lyric's attention to the details made this production special, particularly in the fine cast assembled for this part of the run. The principals were uniformly excellent, with the casting of Elizabeth Futral as Violetta memorable for her outstanding singing and acting. Futral has sung Violetta elsewhere, and in this production, her vocal facility made the demanding role  sound almost effortless. She delivered a fine performance throughout, with the more reflective pieces like "Ah fors è lui" made  extremely moving. As an actress, she  conveyed  her character's   inner struggles most effectively, including allowing for piercing silences on stage, as indicated in the stage directions and which, in a sense, suggest to the audience a flavor of the play that was the source for Verdi's libretto.

Futral worked well with the tenor Joseph Calleja, whose performance as Alfredo was incredible in the very best sense. Calleja brought an evenness to the role of Alfredo with a voice that was resilient yet never strident; he demonstrates an easy  facility that one hopes to find in other performers who take on this role. Nuance was brought to the character through Calleja's sensitive use dynamic levels, with piano passages that while quiet and  superbly articulated; he blended so well with Futral, that the unity with Violetta his character describes  in the text was always apparent in the expression of the music. All he quality that Calleja has  brought to other houses was welcome at this stunning opening-night performance, especially in his two arias in the second act. "De' miei bollenti spiriti" was particularly effective in giving a sense of Calleja's true capability and  the dramatic aspects of his voice emerged splendidly in the third-act aria "Ogni suo aver tal femmina," the scene where Alfredo's anger stuns Violetta's salon society. This tenor was impressive through the whole opera, and his performance was one of the high points of the evening.

Mark Delevan (Germont) and Joseph Calleja (Alfredo)

Mark Delevan, a familiar voice at Lyric Opera, gave a resolute reading and convincing portrayal of Germont, whose fatherly sense of duty at first robs his relationship with his son of paternal understanding. The staid quality that Delevan brought to the opening measures of his encounter with Violetta gradually opened into a rich vocal depiction of the character. Likewise, Buffy Baggott offered fine dimensions to the character of Flora, a role that sometimes lacks the subtleties that were evident in this production. Details like these characterize the quality that Lyric Opera of Chicago habitually affords to its audiences, so that a work as familiar as La traviata revealed a freshness and ésprit matched perfectly to  this celebratory opening night performance and initial run in the new season.

While it does not happen for each production, the opera house lobby was decorated to match the sets for the salon scenes of the opera, with the colors and lighting setting the tone for the evening. Sumptuous draperies framed the public space to allow the audience to engage with the belle époque interpretation of Violetta's salon. This was a touch that clearly moved the  many individuals  who took a moment to preserve the scene with  photographs of their own.

The one  concern about  this production was the prominent sound of the orchestra, since it sometimes overwhelmed the voices. Maestro Bartoletti is certainly adept at shaping his instrumental forces, but volume was sometimes out of place with the otherwise balanced dynamic levels  appropriate to the house. The strings were notably soaring - almost symphonically so - in bringing out some of the more passionate aspects of the score. At the same time, the precise rhythms that are also part of the score were articulated well in this fine house. Despite the dynamic difficulties however, the conducting was all the memorable because this run of La traviata was announced as Bartoletti's final series  for Lyric Opera, close to his half-century of involvement with this company. The few small quibbles could not obscure the impressive work that made up the evening, in which orchestra, chorus, and principals worked excellently together in opening the new Lyric season.

James L.  Zychowicz

Pictures  © Dan Rest / Lyric Opera of Chicago