La Traviata at the Sydney Opera House

[sydneyboy]

Last night I attended a performance of the umpteenth revival of Elijah Moshinsky's very handsome 1994 production of ''La Traviata''. What makes it worth reporting was the sensational performance of the leading lady, the Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho. The critics reviewing the opening night ran out of superlatives to describe her performance which culminated in a spontaneous standing ovation. This was repeated last night. The audience went wild at the final curtain. Stupendous singing and the lady is an excellent actress. If she should ever come your way don't miss her.

Edited February 19, 2017 by sydneyboy

[+ WilliamM]

I saw a wonderful production of the musical "Falsettos" in the Opera House's smaller theater in the 1990s. Not sure why, I did not see many operas. Perhaps"Lulu," a great, but difficult opera, was one opera too many for me.

Edited February 24, 2017 by WilliamM

[sydneyboy]

Opera Australia have done 2 productions of Lulu. I saw the second in 2003 starring Emma Matthews conducted by Simone Young with an excellent supporting cast. The production by Simon Phillips was gently updated to the twentieth century. In summary it was in my opinion a near flawless performance of this opera which I although you don't leave the theatre whistling the tunes (like Traviata) I found the music quite approachable. Regrettably the production has never been revived.

[+ WilliamM]

I saw the other production in the 1990s. Despite comments above, I like "Lulu." My mistake was asking the several friends to join me.

[sydneyboy]

The Facebook page of the Royal Opera House have invited friends to comment on what they have enjoyed most in the most recent opera season. Predictably Jonas Kaufmann in ''Otello'' and Joyce diDonato in "Semiramide'' figured most prominently but I was pleasantly surprised by the large number of people who mentioned Ermonela Jaho in ''Madama Butterfly''. After her sensational performance in ''Traviata'' in Sydney it was pleasing to note Londoners and visitors to Covent Garden appreciated her talent. I predict a superstar in the making. As I said in starting this thread if the lady should come your way don't miss her.

Edited January 2, 2018 by sydneyboy

[+ WilliamM]

Rather than start a new thread:

 

So far my only selection from MET Opera this upcoming season is

Juan Diege Florez in La Traviata.

[sydneyboy]

My spies tell me that Ms Jaho will be singing the Donizetti Tudor Queens in Sydney over a 3 year period starting next year. I hope they are right! Apart from the Sydney Traviata that started this thread I have subsequently read fabulous (and I don’t use that word loosely) reviews of her performances in other roles on major houses.

Edited July 31, 2018 by sydneyboy

[sydneyboy]

Rather than start a new thread:

 

So far my only selection from MET Opera this upcoming season is

Juan Diege Florez in La Traviata.

Seeing Juan Diego Flórez is still my great unfulfilled operatic wish.

[sydneyboy]

The talk of the town in operatic circles in Sydney at the moment is the performance of Amber Wagner in a new production of “Aida” at the Sydney Opera House. I see it next week and will report back.

[+ WilliamM]

This is Florez's first opera at the Met in three/four years. Earlier he sang at the Met almost every year. Glad he is finally back.