La Traviata, San Francisco Opera

"La Traviata" Act I set model

Credit: Robert Innes Hopkins

I saw San Francisco Opera's new production of La Traviata on Sunday, November 13, and I am equivocal about what I saw and heard, certainly more so than the other reviewers that I've read. I should note that the opera house was evacuated about ten minutes before curtain time and the performance didn't start until about 2:30 pm. It's possible that the singers were rattled by this and were in better form at the first show, on Friday, Nov. 11.

Let's start with the new production. Overall, the sets are prettier and more spacious, allowing for more on-stage movement, than the John Copley production that has been retired after 35 years. You can see the Act I set model, for Violetta's apartment, above.

The set for Act II, scene 1 is usually an indoor room, but this looks like an outdoor patio or screened porch, somehow wedged between two indoor rooms. I'm scratching my head at the architecture, but as a set it works well, it looks nice, and it's very handsomely lit.

Simone Piazzola as Giorgio Germont and Pretty Yende as Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata."

Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Act II, Scene 1

I'm not so sure about the lurid red set for Flora's party in Act II, scene 2. It looks like a stereotypical bordello, but the party is at Flora's residence. The libretto says "a richly furnished and lit room." Well, I guess it is, and maybe this is how the demi-monde lived? You tell me.

Pretty Yende as Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata."

Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Act II, Scene 2

None of the press photos shows the whole set.

I do have one problem with the sets: using the same set for I and III looks to me like a money-saver. At the beginning of Act III, it's made clear that Violetta is impoverished; she has almost no money left and of course she has no patron. She cannot possibly be renting the big apartment of Act 1, and most productions set this act in a garret or attic room.

The costumes are a mixed bag. Many of them look to me to be somewhat streamlined versions of real 19th c. French women's clothing. I was surprised to see Violetta with pink carnations decorating her Act I dress, and I suppose I should ask whether this was intentional, to signal ambiguity or something like that. (She usually has white carnations, signaling her sexual availability; if they were red, it would signal "I have my period.") 

Pretty Yende as Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata."

Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

The women's costumes for Flora's party seemed like caricatures. The gender-bending Spanish dancers and the man in a pink tutu were cute. I have a friend who knows way more than me about historical clothing, but she has moved out of state and won't be seeing this production unless she streams it. Maybe I'll ask her to take a look at these photos and comment on the costumes.

I mostly like Shawna Lucey's direction, which seemed apt and sensible from moment to moment. I'm not so sure about Violetta jumping on one of those couches in a corset, bustle, and long skirt, as a matter of 19th c. deportment as much as for practicality given the undergarments. 

I think I saw an interview where she referred to a specifically feminist reading of the opera. While I think it's nice to see some female solidarity when Alfredo and the Baron are going at it at Flora's party and the women all gather around Violetta, this isn't an obvious candidate for a strongly feminist treatment. It's more about class and the ways that the Germonts need to protect their daughter's reputation than about sexism per se, although of course the men get to have their courtesans without damage to their reputations.

And on to the musical side. The orchestra sounded absolutely gorgeous; beautiful string tone and blending of the woodwinds and brass with the strings. Eun Sun Kim was always supportive of the singers and never came anywhere near swamping them. I liked her tempos, some of which were quite fast ("De' miei bollenti spiriti", for example). I would have liked to hear more flexibility of tempo, though! One small historical example: hear what Franco Ghione, not usually thought of as one of the greatest conductors of Italian opera, does with Violetta's arching phrases in Act II, scene 2. He gives the soprano a lot of space, and it really heightens the pathos of the scene.

I was most impressed with Pretty Yende in the last act. Her reading of the letter and exclamation "E tardi" ("Too late!") were magnificent, just overwhelmingly sad and passionate. She was tremendous throughout the act and honestly looked and sounded as though she was dying. Her duet with Alfredo in that act was also gorgeous (they sounded great in the first act together as well). But the vocal acrobatics of the first act didn't come easily or naturally, and if you can't hit the optional Eb easily, why sing it at all? Yende's voice qua voice is a nice-sounding, but not very distinctive, lyric soprano. Her acting chops are for real, so I'd like to see her in different repertory.

Simone Piazzola was adequate as Giorgio Germont; we've definitely heard better here, with Dmitri Hvrostovsky, Dwayne Croft, and Artur Ruczinski, among others, singing that role in the last 20 years. Piazzola has a sturdy but unvaried baritone with little vibrancy, and when he had to hold a note for more than a beat or two, he went noticeably off pitch. I vaguely thought that he spent a lot of Act II, scene 1 looking at the ground, or the prompter, or the conductor, anywhere but at Violetta and Alfredo, but I was in the dress circle and I'd need confirmation from someone in the orchestra section.

Simone Piazzola as Giorgio Germont and Pretty Yende as Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata."

Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

See what I mean? Why is he looking at the floor 

instead of at Violetta, who is overcome?

The tenor Jonathan Tetelman, making his house debut (same as Yende and Piazzola, of course), was the most vocally consistent of the three, presenting a passionate and mostly very well sung Alfredo. He was originally trained as a baritone and sometimes sounds as though he is still feeling his way around the upper reaches of his voice, particularly when he's called upon to sing quietly. It's a lovely sound, though, on the dark side and under good control. He and Yende both have old-school flicker vibratos, which is so much more appealing than wide vibratos that verge on the wobbly. He's also tall and handsome, good qualities in a tenor.

Jonathan Tetelman as Alfredo and Pretty Yende as Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata."

Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

The smaller roles were beautifully sung and acted! Philip Skinner never fails to come through, and he was here an unusually brutish Baron Duphuol. Taylor Raven sounded gorgeous as Flora and Elisa Sunshine was lovely as Annina. Adam Lau was a sonorous Dr. Greville and I'd love to hear him in a bigger role. The chorus sang as alertly and sharply as I can remember and sounded great.

• Joshua Kosman, SF Chronicle
• Jason Victor Serinus, SFCV. That high Eb is optional, and there's just no reason to name-check long dead singers.
• Georgia Rowe, Opera News (paywall)
• Michael Strickland, SF Civic Center.  
• Opera Tattler
• Michael Anthonio, Parterre Box