Giuseppe Verdi, Piave
Ellen Kent, Opera and BAllet International, Senbla
Opera House, Manchester
February 23, 2025; 2hrs 45 mins
(also at Sunderland Empire, March 17; Bradford Alhambra, April 16)
Verdi’s opera La Traviata is performed by the Ukrainian Opera in a simple manner. Simple music, Simple sets. Simple acting and simple costumes.
In other words the production allows the music to do the work, rather than have a director’s take. Simple to say and hard to do, but they pull it off.
At the forefront is Moldovan baritone Iurie Gisca as Germont - father of the young Alfredo - who plays the role as though he had a son genuinely and fatally compromised by passion. With a baritone voice to die for, Gisca acts superbly. His duet with Violetta leaves hardly a dry eye in the house.
Violetta (Victoria Melnyk), won a scholarship in 2022 for young and promising artists, and certainly, from this performance, appears to have not just merited the honour but grown into her promise. Her high
wire performances in the solos are achingly good - and she acts as well as she sings.
Davit Sumbadze as the callow Alfredo has a hard path to follow. It's tricky, playing someone who loves
to distraction but who has to lose out for the good of the family. Even the scene of monetary disdain
inevitably casts the character in a harsh light. So his rather hangdog expression is understandable; it's a very competent performance.
The wider cast is universally professional and supportive - especially a young, silent little girl who steals her scenes. Never act with animals or children...
The orchestra was a little thin in the violins, but Ukraine, which supplies the bulk of the cast and orchestra, is busy at the moment, so this understandable. Director Ellen Kent is to be congratulated on continuing to bring the company to the UK and around the world, and for allowing the audience to focus on the quality of the singing and the music.
More info here