2024 – Traviata | Talise Trevin, La Traviata was born at the Montreal Opera

Montreal Opera opened its season with light Marriage of Figarohe ends with tears Travel. This new production was a great and well-deserved success for its premiere on Saturday evening at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.

This is another one of the many shows that have been postponed due to the pandemic. It is a co-production with the Winnipeg, Edmonton, Victoria and Vancouver Opera Houses Traviata Director Alain Gauthier teleports to the world of Parisian jazz in the 1920s, particularly with the portrayal of Josephine Baker.

This transposition is far from doing violence to the work (the only exception is the mention of “loui” at the end). From the basket where we stand, we notice some accessories (Violet's feathered headdress in the first part, a mirror surrounded by lights in the last part…) that evoke the last time. But overall, in terms of visual aesthetics, we are not far from the Paris of Marie Duplessis, the real lady of the Camellias, frequented by Alexandre Dumas fils in the middle of the 19th century.^e century.

After all, stage decoration is impressive! – Kristina Poddubyuk always keeps us in that bourgeois Paris residence with the monumental staircase. Myrt boulevard. Kevin Lamott's masterful lighting (the blue light of the first scene of Act II!) and the alternation of closed or open shutters and red curtains are enough to make us want to change the world.

As for the different singers, it's Talise Trevin who steals the show in the lead role. Even if the high notes are sometimes too restrained, the American soprano stands out for her clear and precise interpretation of the tubercle. His “Addio, del passato” was simply moving.

Harder to say about Antoine Belanger's Alfredo, who was called up a few days ago to replace Kosovo's Rame Lahai. If only a few weeks ago the Quebec tenor offered a respectable performance A mystery Performing an Italian opera in a room twice the size of the Maisonneuve Theater is a completely different thing in terms of vocal and stage impact.

Belanger favors a smooth vocal delivery that can be a quality in certain repertoires, but less so in Verdi, where we expect a touch of vocal roughness, especially in the high notes (the difficult cabalet in the second act).

James Westman's Giorgio Germo is a completely different character. If he scares us when he enters wearing a mask and exaggerating, the Ontario baritone delivers a first-rate song afterwards.

All of the smaller roles were well done, especially young baritone Jeffrey Schellenberg's well-voiced Marquis d'Aubigny.

This Traviata It also marked the return to Montreal of conductor Jordan de Souza, who established himself as an authority in the pit with the Metropolitan Orchestra. His approach to the score can sometimes be controversial (Alfredo and Germont's arias are too fast and the introduction to the first act surprisingly slow), but it is always personal and expressive.

In conclusion, this is it Traviata an archetypal show that works well and satisfies regulars and newcomers alike.

The show will be repeated on May 7, 9, 12 and 14 at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier on the Place des Arts.