Canadian Opera Company: Verdi’s La traviata. 8 October 2015. Four Seasons Centre.

SCRUTINY | COC's La Traviata A Feast for the Senses

Canadian Opera Company: Verdi’s La traviata. 8 October 2015. Four Seasons Centre.

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(in foreground) Robert Gleadow as Dr. Grenvil and Ekaterina Siurina as Violetta in the COC’s production of La Traviata, 2015. (Photo: Michael Cooper)

The Canadian Opera Company’s 2015-16 season opened last evening with a perennial favourite, Verdi’s La traviata. Based on the most recent statistics (2013-14 season), this opera at a total of 749 performances in major houses globally makes it the most performed opera in the world. It is easy to see why – a tragic love story that transcends time and space, with characters made of flesh and blood, framed by a divine score with Verdi at his most melodically inspired.

What’s not to love? The previous COC production was by that Russian provocateur extraordinaire, Dimitri Bertman. It premiered in 1999 and later revived (and rather watered down) in 2007. It represented one of the first forays by the COC into hardcore Regieoper. My most vivid memory of the 1999 opening night was the vociferous booing from the normally placid COC audience. I heard that the Company got hate mail for years afterwards. This time around, there was nothing but loud cheering, complete with a genuine standing ovation.

This new La traviata, a co-production with Chicago Lyric Opera and Houston Grand Opera, couldn’t be more different from the Bertman version. Stage director Arin Arbus opts for an ultra-romantic, essentially traditional approach, faithful to the original with no attempt to re-imagine or deconstruct anything, other than a bit of racy if harmless choreography in the Act 3 ballet sequence. To European audiences, her production would likely be considered hopelessly old-fashioned, but it is right for the North American aesthetic. And when you have a cast as strong as the one COC has assembled here, it makes for an enjoyable evening in the opera house.

The singing on opening night was very fine. Top vocal honours went to American baritone, Quinn Kelsey. Memorable as Rigoletto and Sancho Panza in his previous COC appearances, he returns as an awesome Germont, offering up an authentic Verdi baritone, matched by a surfeit of gravitas for the role. If his acting seemed a bit stiff, it was in character. Tenor Charles Castronovo surprised me. I had only heard him years ago as a Mozart tenor, but it didn’t prepare me for his excellence in Verdi. His rich, robust and virile sound, combined with an engaging stage presence, made his Alfredo an unalloyed pleasure. Given that he and Siurina is a real life couple, they had great chemistry on stage – for once, the many kisses looked genuine.

Any La traviata stands or falls by its heroine; thus all eyes were focused on Russian soprano Ekaterina Siurina tackling her first complete Violetta. Hers is perhaps not the typical Violetta soprano – a very pretty voice, with no rough edges, full of womanly warmth and very accurate of pitch. Her portrayal is also softer and gentler than most. Said to be battling a cold during the rehearsals, she was a little cautious in Act 1, eschewing the optional E-flat. There was not a whole lot of fire and passion in her confrontation with Germont in Act 2 or in her scene with Alfredo in Act 3, but her Act 3 was beautiful, her best moment the exquisitely sung “Addio del passato” complete with original da capo verse. Given her indisposition and this being her first Violetta, one can reasonably expect Siurina to be fully energized in later performances.

Verdi composed the arias in the da capo style, but cuts have become routine over the years. However, all are restored in this production, with the exception of the repeat in Alfredo’s cabaletta in Act 2. Thankfully the principals were up to the task. All the supporting roles were ably taken by present and former COC Ensemble Studio singers. Guest conductor Marco Guidarini led the COC orchestra in a well-paced, idiomatic reading of the score. The COC Chorus did yeoman service and provided plenty of colourful stage action during Acts 1 and 3. La traviata was an auspicious start to the new COC season.

COC’s La traviata runs October 8 – November 6, 2015. Tickets and showtimes available http://www.coc.ca

Correction: In the original, Arin Arbus’s gender was incorrectly stated as male.

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Joseph So

Joseph So is Professor Emeritus at Trent University and Associate Editor of Opera Canada.He is also a long-time contributor to La Scena Musicale and Opera (London, UK). His interest in music journalism focuses on voice, opera as well as symphonic and piano repertoires. He appears regularly as a panel member of the Big COC Podcast.He has co-edited a book, Opera in a Multicultural World: Coloniality, Culture, Performance, published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group).

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