By Nick Mabey.
“Pleasure makes life longer” sung by our protagonist, Violetta – played wonderfully by a blooming Caroline Taylor – sums up the first act of La Traviata.
Guiseppe Verdi’s famous nineteenth century opera has been reimagined in Paris in the 1930s and it’s all finery and decadence as ‘the wayward one’ (La Traviata in English) hosts a party in grand style.
I’m no opera aficionado, but I do know a plot when I see one and Francesco Piave’s libretto has been cleverly retold by the young and energetic cast brought together by the Hurn Court Opera company for their eighth fully staged opera since being founded by Lynton Atkinson in 2017.
At the heart of his vision was a belief that emerging opera talents need quality, paid productions to develop their careers. Atkinson, who is also conductor of this production, leads a company that brings live opera to people and places that might otherwise not get the chance to experience it. Hence this novice writing a review.
The show I saw was at The Regent in Christchurch, and an enthusiastic crowd gave the cast and orchestra a standing ovation at the end.
La Traviata is an exploration of love, being in love and of course about having one’s heart broken.
The story touches on social inequality, the class system, family honour and other sadly contemporary themes, but at the centre is love and the relationship between Violetta and Alfredo (Sam Britner showing great maturity in his voice and emotion in his acting despite being a 21 year-old theoretical physics student). “That heartbeat is the love of the whole universe” Alfredo sings as he first declares his feelings. I won’t spoil the plot but let’s just say it’s the start of a tempestuous and heartstring-pulling three acts.
Opera of course is mostly about the singing and the orchestra, and both were of the finest quality. Sung in Italian, as you would expect despite the French setting, there were surtitles helpfully displayed above the stage – another nod to the democratisation of the form.
The Regent was an appropriate setting for this production, being of similar vintage to the setting and with an ornate interior. The effectively simple scenery and exquisite costumes completed the rather beautiful mise-en-scene.
If you want to see this production of La Traviata – and I’d thoroughly recommend you do – then you will have to act quickly.
The next performance is Saturday 18th April at the Coade Theatre Blandford and the mini-tour finishes in the Theatre Royal Winchester on Monday 20th April. Find out more at Hurn Court Opera’s website, www.hurncourtopera.org, where you can also find out what’s coming next and make a donation to this great charity.
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