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mundoclasico, 20.1.2008
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Enrique Sacau |
Verdi: La traviata, Royal Opera House, 20 January 2008
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An excellent wine, yet to be branded
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Under the title “Hitting the Spot: Pricing and
the Brain”, the Science & Technology section of The Economist published an
article on 18 January which discussed the direct relationship between paying
higher prices for things and enjoying them more. ‘People’, the article says,
‘do not just say they enjoy expensive things more than cheap ones. They
actually do enjoy them more’. The weekly paper substantiates this statement
by referring to scholarly papers which studied the brain activity of a
number of subjects while they were sampling wines. The results show that
these people enjoyed the same wine better when they were told it was
expensive (hence, they thought, better). According to the scientists
involved in this research, there are two possible explanations for this
phenomenon: one related to survival strategies and the other one to the
desire on the part of the subjects to improve their social performance. I
will use the latter for the purposes of this review.
On Thursday 17 January, when they arrived in the Royal Opera House, the
public were confronted with dismal news: international diva Anna Netrebko
was suffering from bronchitis and had therefore cancelled her performance.
Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho had agreed to take an overnight flight from
New York to replace her. On Sunday one usher told me that some people had
been upset on Thursday and had decided to leave the House before the opera
started. I arrived for the second performance sang by Jaho knowing that
Netrebko would not sing and so did most members of the audience. There were
no defections: in front of a full house which had been looking forward to
seeing Netrebko for months Jaho sang one of the most demanding opera roles
of all times: Violetta Valéry.
Jaho’s recipe for success is twofold. Firstly, as a singer she displays all
the tricks needed for Violetta. Her voice is light enough to accomplish
easily the coloratura of act one. Perhaps she does not have the trill and
indeed avoids the high E at the end of the aria, but some of the greatest
sopranos did the same in this role and were still praised. On the other
hand, the colour of her voice is dark enough to sound convincing in both the
lyrical act two and the dramatic act three. Her high notes in pianissimo,
long legato phrases and savoir dire make of her an extraordinarily moving
Violetta. Secondly, her acting is equally commendable. I struggle to believe
that she actually managed to learn her movements so perfectly in literally
no time and can only imagine how good an actress she could be if she had
rehearsed this role properly. In all, Jaho is amongst the best Violettas I
have ever seen; she will hopefully sing this role at the most important
opera houses in the world.
The good ovation she received in the end, however, did not do her justice
and could not match Netrebko’s reward after the only performance she sang.
According to Tim Ashley, writing about Netrebko’s performance for The
Guardian, “the enthralled audience… greeted each act with the standing
ovation it deserved”. However spectacular Netrebko’s rendition of La
traviata might have been, Jaho could not possibly be far from her
achievement. If Jaho did not get a longer ovation it was the result of her
not being known to the London audiences. Guessing that her fee would be
lower than Netrebko’s and not knowing her name, the audience's perception of
the performance appeared dictated by their expectation. I hope this review
(and others) contributes to the branding of this exceptional singer.
Already consecrated as international divos, Jonas Kaufmann and Dmitri
Hvorostovsky did not let us down. As usual, the former offered such a great
deal of passion that made it possible for Alfredo to come across as slightly
sympathetic. This was thanks to Kaufmann’s capacity to show the vulnerable
side of Alfredo, who is as much a victim of his stupidity as Violetta. He is
my favourite lyrical tenor nowadays and one whose dark voice might allow him
to get into heavier roles. Singing Germont, the latter offered the
customary hieratic acting, if softened by a voice which sounded lighter,
brighter and smoother than usual. His carefully phrased “Di Provenza”
granted him one of the best ovations of the night.
The unqualified success of the vocal team could hardly be matched by
Maurizio Benini in the pit. He let the singers be, which was good, but
did not quite make the orchestra play its fundamental dramatic role. I think
the issue is that Benini was self-consciously precious. He aimed for so much
nuance and pathos in acts one and two (something obvious in his choice of
dead-slow tempi) that there was not much left to look forward to in the
intrinsically pathetic act three. Richard Eyre’s poignant production is
aging very gracefully and was adequately revived by Patrick Young. The new
costumes of the choir members did help to update it. One final wish: I hope
Jaho comes back to Covent Garden very soon! |
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