30 March 2015

La Traviata at the Carpenter Theater

For a joint birthday weekend the extended family plus one took in the Virginia Opera's production of Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata. I can hardly hold myself out as a critic of opera but I thought the production was wonderful. (If it helps, my Italian son-in-law Attilio concurred.) 

The vocal performances, especially of soprano Celcia Violetta (I'm not making that up) Lopez and baritone Malcolm MacKenzie were particularly noteworthy, and the staging, albeit traditional, was also innovative and interesting without being distracting.

One aspect of La Traviata that I enjoyed was Verdi's addition of a father-son relationship as a significant part of the plot. You can't go wrong with a story of doomed lovers, one of whom must die at the end, but inclusion of the conflict between Alfredo and Georgio Germont and its positive resolution was an added bonus.

La Traviata is coming to Virginia Beach on April 11 and 12 and I highly recommend it to those who love opera and those who want to give opera a try.

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