classical life

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1. 
   Lisa Hirsch

   I saw this production in SF in 2009, with the second cast. Elizabeth Futral was the most unsympathetic Violetta imaginable; I had no pity, no feeling at all for her, because she was cold and flip. David Lomeli and Stephen Powell were fine, but I should have seen the first cast, with Netrebko and I-can’t-remember who else. But I hated the production. My take is that if you update Traviata to the 1920s, what you get is La Rondine, which is much less interesting as far as the characters go. Traviata’s plot, as you more or less say, makes no sense in the 20s.

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   September 15, 2014 11:41 am
   • 
     tmangan

     Charles Castronovo was the Alfredo, I think. Thanks, Lisa.

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     September 15, 2014 11:44 am
2. 
   David S.

   Was there some reason for the car coming on stage in act one? I laughed, but, er, they probably didn’t want laughter….? Also, I know I rely on surtitles, but in the third act Violetta fell to the ground and THEN her maid asked if she’d had a better night?

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   September 22, 2014 10:08 am
   • 
     Lisa Hirsch

     Ha. I don’t remember this particular bit, but I do recall the effective use of an auto on stage in SF Opera’s Rodelinda in the early years of this century. It was set in the 20s also, but the 20s of gangsters and cities, and worked remarkably well. I remember that auto as having a real air of menace.

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     September 22, 2014 10:11 am
   • 
     tmangan

     I would say that the car was mostly decorative, David. Though one could make the case that it is the viewer’s first indication that we are in the 1920s, not the 1850s.

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     September 22, 2014 10:53 am
     • 
       Lisa Hirsch

       I took a look back at my blog review of that SFO Rodelinda and discovered it was set in the 1940s, not 20s. Sorry!

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       September 22, 2014 11:03 am

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