Richard Eyre’s La Traviata remains as entertaining as ever, even after 25 years

La Traviata                                                                    Royal Opera House, London

Rating:

There was a palpable buzz at Covent Garden 25 years ago when Richard Eyre’s new production of La Traviata premiered. I know, I was there.

Everyone was excited that the veteran Georg Solti, then in his 80s, was conducting his first ever Traviata, and introducing to London his latest protégée, the young Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu.

Did I imagine, though, that 25 years later I’d be seeing the same show, which last weekend received its 200th performance? No.

The American soprano Angel Blue (above) made her Royal Opera debut playing Violetta in four of the run’s final shows. Not only did she look stunning, but her singing lit up the stage

The American soprano Angel Blue (above) made her Royal Opera debut playing Violetta in four of the run’s final shows. Not only did she look stunning, but her singing lit up the stage

But I’m glad. The direction, now entrusted to Andrew Sinclair, remains secure, unfolding the tragedy with clarity and colour. Bob Crowley’s costumes still look great, and his set for the gambling scene still elicits spontaneous applause.

Last week the American soprano Angel Blue made her Royal Opera debut in it, playing Violetta in four of the run’s final shows. 

A former beauty queen (Miss Hollywood, Miss Southern California), she not only looked stunning in a range of haute couture gowns but also lit up the stage with her singing, displaying an easy mastery of even Verdi’s most treacherous passages.

Most of the casting here was excellent, especially French tenor Benjamin Bernheim as Alfredo (above with Blue)

And Italian Baritone Simone Piazzola as a no-nonsense Giorgio Germont (above with Bernheim)

Most of the casting here was excellent, especially French tenor Benjamin Bernheim as Alfredo (left with Blue) and Italian Baritone Simone Piazzola as Giorgio Germont (right with Bernheim)

Blue also suggested from the very outset that Violetta is not only the toast of Paris but also a dying woman.

The French tenor Benjamin Bernheim contributed a pleasingly mellifluous Alfredo. 

The Italian baritone Simone Piazzola was a no-nonsense Giorgio Germont, sparing us none of the awfulness of this priggish and sanctimonious old stick. 

IT’S A FACT

In her first singing competition at eight, most of the other children did songs from The Sound Of Music. Angel Blue chose Handel. 

Sadly, debutant conductor Antonello Manacorda was clumsy and loud, often leaving his singers too little time to breathe.

Inevitably there will be pressure to create a new production. Some modish opera director with a bag full of annoying concepts, no doubt.

English National Opera have tried that half a dozen times during the life of this production, each new one even more gruesomely awful than its predecessor.

No, Richard Eyre’s banker will do for me, and it’s such a long-standing success it’s bound to be back here soon. If it’s not necessary to change, it’s necessary not to change.

 

BOX SET OF THE WEEK

Willi Boskovsky                    Master Of The Waltz                 Decca, out now

Rating:

These recordings, spanning 30 years of mainly Viennese music-making, from the early Fifties to the late Seventies, chart the remarkable career of the violinist turned conductor Willi Boskovsky, best known for directing the celebrated New Year’s Day Concert for 25 years.

Boskovsky, born in 1909, was an exceptional violinist who became one of the Vienna Philharmonic’s four concertmasters before he was 30. In the late Forties he founded the Vienna Octet, and the first 15 CDs here, from the Fifties, are memorable performances of some of the greatest chamber music of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.

The next 15 CDs, dating from the Sixties, are celebrated recordings of Mozart’s dance music, and the serenades and divertimentos he wrote to be performed at grand banquets. There’s also a bonus CD here of Beethoven’s dance music.

This exceptional 50 CD/2 DVD box set covers 30 years of violinist and conductor Willi Boskovsky's remarkable career  and can be bought for around £90

This exceptional 50 CD/2 DVD box set covers 30 years of violinist and conductor Willi Boskovsky’s remarkable career and can be bought for around £90

By now a popular conductor, Boskovsky formed a small instrumental group from the Philharmonic, under the name the Vienna Mozart Ensemble, and these CDs received first-class reviews at the time, and still sound really good, offering a unique glimpse of a much underrated aspect of Mozart’s creative genius. 

Boskovsky became a conductor by accident. In 1954 the renowned German conductor Clemens Krauss died suddenly, leaving the orchestra with no conductor for the New Year’s Day Concert.

Boskovsky, who had never conducted before, was pressed into service. He took the job with some reluctance, imploring his colleagues to help him out. But he did it brilliantly, standing on the podium, violin in hand, directing the band with his bow, exactly as the Strausses themselves used to do.

Most of the remaining albums here are of Strauss family music, with several New Year’s Day Concert recordings included, interspersed with studio recordings that were extremely well received at the time, and still sound totally idiomatic. Nobody did it better.

This exceptional box, with 50 CDs and two DVDs, can be bought for about £90. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk