Cinema audiences worldwide have an opportunity this Saturday to watch the Metropolitan Opera’s performance of Verdi’s beloved tragedy, La traviata – live from the stage of Lincoln Center in New York.
This production, by Michael Mayer, takes the form of a series of flashbacks as Violetta, in her dying moments, relives her love affair with Alfredo. It stars soprano Nadine Sierra as the ‘fallen woman’ of the title, who forgoes her relationship with her lover at the request of his father. Ms Sierra, making her Met role debut as Violetta, will reprise this role at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and during this season will also appear as Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto at Teatro di San Carlo and at the Staatsoper Berlin, in the title role of Manon at Gran Teatre del Liceu and will also make role debuts as Amina in Bellini’s La sonnambula and as Liù in Puccini’s Turandot at Teatro Real.
Photo: Marty Sohl / Met Opera
Tenor Stephen Costello – described by Opera News as a “first class talent” – is Violetta’s lover, Alfredo, who is devastated to discover that his father has persuaded Violetta to give him up. Mr Costello will follow his performance at the Met with appearances at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Verdi’s Don Carlo, in Puccini’s La bohème and in Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Met, in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux at the Opernhaus Zurich and in La bohème at the New National Theatre in Japan.
Photo: Marty Sohl / Met Opera
Acclaimed baritone Luca Salsi who has sung every major Verdi baritone in some of the greatest opera houses of the world, takes the role of Count Germont, Alfredo’s disapproving father, who cannot stand the shame of his son’s relationship with a courtesan and sets about destroying their relationship. It’s only as he watches the suffering of his son, as Violetta is dying, that he accepts the consequences of his actions.
Verdi’s three-act opera, La traviata, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, is based on the 1852 play La Dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas fils, which in turn was based on Dumas’ 1848 novel of the same name. Inspiration for the novel came from an actual ‘lady of pleasure’ whom Dumas had known and adored. The opera, which premiered at La Fenice in Venice on March 6th, 1853, became one of Verdi’s most frequently performed during his lifetime – and continues to be so today.
Photo: Marty Sohl / Met Opera
Leading the performance is Daniele Callegari, Principal Conductor of the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra, who has conducted some of the world’s major opera companies and orchestras in some of the most prestigious opera houses and concert halls around the globe.
Maestro Callegari leads the soloists and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus in a live broadcast of Verdi’s La traviata on Saturday, November 5 at 12.55 pm (ET). The broadcast is hosted by soprano Renée Fleming.
Find your nearest cinema online, and for audiences who do not live near a participating cinema, La traviata will also be available on the newly launched The Met: Live at Home platform, which offers the live performance stream or view-on-demand capability for seven days following the performance.
Information sourced from Metropolitan Opera program notes
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