Briq House, Moonyeka and Gabrielle Nomura Gainor discuss Verdi’s famous heroine and new narratives for sex work, pleasure, and liberation in 2023.
Moonyeka, Gabrielle Nomura Gainor and Briq House.
The first year that La traviata played to audiences in 1853, Verdi was able to pull off a great feat. The Italian composer had manipulated a mid-nineteenth century European audience into sympathizing with Violetta—a woman who, despite being a member of high society, was a sex worker—a person who made a living through transactional relationships with wealthy men. La traviata means “the fallen woman,” or, more literally, "the woman who has been led astray."
Now, 170 years later—the oppressive structures governing women and femmes are still in play. What’s different are the new and more varied narratives surrounding sex workers, pleasure seekers, and women who strive to be “sempre libera” (always free) like Violetta.
Seattle Opera appointed its first Scholar in Residence, musicologist Naomi André, back in 2019. In that role, Professor André has written program essays, given Opera Talks, and appeared on panels in our Community Conversations series. Next week, in conjunction with the opening of La traviata, Professor André will lead a new, two-part Opera Class on the works of Giuseppe Verdi. Seattle Opera recently sat down with Professor André to learn more about her time as Scholar in Residence, what audiences can expect from her upcoming class, and why it’s important to analyze the art we love.
In my opinion, La traviata is just about perfect, musically and dramatically. There are some operas I never tire of and and this is one of them. I am always happy to open the score and study the words and the music again and again.
We expect to see singers and conductors revisit works multiple times, but this is less often the case with a director – she is more likely to create “her” Traviata, or Magic Flute, or Butterfly, making only minor adjustments as the production is revived in different houses and with different casts. It’s less common for a director to start over with a piece. But I’ve reimagined Traviata in houses ranging from Skylight Opera Theatre (where we billed it Lady of the Camellias, 1988) to Bordeaux (1998) to Sydney (2011) to the Bolshoi (2013) and now here.
Seattle Opera’s upcoming La traviatafeatures a star-studded, international cast with impressive resumes. Learn more about recent awards won by our singers, and be sure not to miss your chance to hear them in action when La traviata opens in May!
"This is a thought provoking Traviata, well worth seeing." - The SunBreak
"This surely must count as one of Seattle Opera’s most fascinating productions in recent seasons. no doubt a striking theatrical experience that does Seattle Opera’s artistic ambitions proud." - Bachtrack
Angel Blue as Violetta. Philip Newton photo
"Without the distractions of lavish costumes and scenery seen in most major productions, it’s easier to feel the piece as timeless, place-less and yes, in the moment." - Oregon Arts Watch
"Judiciously eliminating some chorus scenes as well as a cabaletta or two, this intermissionless performance unsparingly focuses the work on the kaleidoscopically beautiful and brutal relationship between Violetta and Alfredo." - Bachtrack
"This production, directed by Peter Konwitschny, is set in contemporary times. It could easily be the story of a high-class call girl in New York and the people who party with her and her colleagues: wealthy corporate bosses or the scions thereof. The disease Violetta contracts and is dying of is meant to be tuberculosis. Today it could be AIDS or any other nasty condition contracted through sexual congress." -The SunBreak
Angel Blue (Violetta) and Zach Borichevsky (Alfredo). Philip Newton photo
"[Angel Blue was] impressive vocally, her lush soprano displaying an attractive fluttering vibrato and carrying above the orchestra with ease...It was a thrill to hear such a massive voice sailing through the technical demands of the role, from an impassioned 'Amami, Alfredo' to a surprisingly delicate final act." Bachtrack "An intensely compelling presence, Winters’ Violetta is by turns angry, vulnerable, and gritty...Vocally, her rich soprano best suits the spinto outbursts of Act II, though she ably navigated the Act I coloratura with fearless brilliance and a ringing E flat. Best of all, her nuanced shading and projection of the text eliminated the need for the projected supertitles". - Bachtrack
"Winters embraced Violetta so thoroughly that we don’t pity her. We are sad that she has to die, that she loses her true love, but she goes out with dignity, backing away triumphantly into those red curtains." - Oregon Arts Watch
Corinne Winters (Violetta) and Joshua Dennis (Alfredo). Philip newton photo
"It was a brilliant idea to remove the distractions of a set, in order to concentrate on the characters. There are only the stage curtain and succeeding receding curtains on the stage, all in lush red and drawn slowly to the side or back again, as symbols perhaps of the stages the characters pass through, in reality or in their minds." - The SunBreak
"Weston Hurt and Joshua Dennis sing the Germonts, father and son, with rich beauty of tone and suavity; Hurt, especially, gives “Di Provenza il mar,” in which he tries to persuade Alfredo to forget about Violetta, a pulsing warmth at a relaxed, seductively indulgent tempo." - Seattle Weekly
Weston Hurt (Gemont). Philip Newton photo
"Joshua Dennis, in his Seattle Opera debut, was excellent as Alfredo, the love-struck book nerd. His sweet, buttery tenor captures perfectly the earnestness that gradually opens the heart of Violetta, the 'It' girl courtesan (sex worker?) who keeps her emotions off limits from both her clients and the superficial snotty snobs around her." - The Stranger
Corinne Winters (Violetta) and Joshua Dennis (Alfredo). Philip Newton photo
"Weston Hurt as Alfredo’s father was also deeply affecting, his rich baritone providing some of the most beautiful musical moments." - Seattle P.I.
"As Alfredo, Violetta's one true love, tenor Zach Borichevsky sang beautifully, particularly in the softer passages. Baritone Stephen Powell, as Alfredo's father, Giorgio Germont, had appropriate gravitas, and his nice, full voice blended perfectly with Blue's and Borichevsky's in the ensemble numbers." - Seattle Gay News
Stephen Powell (Germont). Philip Newton photo
"(Stephen) Powell’s Germont was a more traditional villain, patronizing his children and Violetta with equal superiority. Powell’s powerful baritone certainly makes an impact, especially in concert with Angel Blue’s thrilling soprano in their Act II encounter." - Bachtrack
"Smaller parts were excellently cast, including Eric Neuville’s wittily urbane Gastone whose elegant tenor certainly bodes well for many Alfredos in the future. Maya Lahyani’s plummy mezzo made an impact as a Mean Girls-esque Flora and seemed to connect particularly movingly with Corinne Winters’ Violetta." - Bachtrack
"Conductor Stefano Ranzani led a propulsive reading of the score that matched nicely with the production’s unflinching inevitability." - Bachtrack
Charles Robert Austin (Dr. Grenvil) and Karen Early Evans (Annina). Philip Newton photo
"There wasn't a weak link in the cast or in the always-fine chorus, and the orchestra played magnificently under the direction of Stefano Ranzani. The woodwinds and brass deserve special mention for their gorgeous sound." - Seattle Gay News
"[Angel Blue gave] a highly committed performance, gaining much from her innate charisma." - Bachtrack
Angel Blue as Violetta. Jacob Lucas photo
Seattle Opera's La traviata plays through Jan. 28 Tickets & info: seattleopera.org/traviata #SOtraviata
Listen to or read this downloadable podcast by General Director Aidan Lang. La traviata, Verdi’s immortal song of love and death, comes to Seattle this January as we’ve never seen it before, in a compelling, streamlined production that’s also the US debut of famed German director Peter Konwitschny. Created for the Verdi bicentennial in 2013, Konwitschny’s production has fascinated opera lovers in nine other cities en route to Seattle.
Hello everyone, it’s Aidan Lang here, here to speak to you about La traviata and our forthcoming production which opens on the 14th of January.
This blog post is based on a lecture Jonathan Dean gave as part of Seattle Opera’s adult education series at Seattle University on October 18, 2016. Next up in the series: on Tuesday, November 8 at 7:00 PM, Aidan Lang hosts a panel discussion with the cast and creative team of As One: composer Laura Kaminsky, co-librettist Mark Campbell, co-librettist Kimberly Reed via Skype, director L. Zane Jones, and conductor John Keene. Mezzo-soprano Taylor Raven and baritone Jorell Williams will also join in the conversation and perform excerpts from As One.
Our opera industry today is built upon a handful of paradoxes. Opera has always been a tug-of-war between sound and sense, between music and word; today, the auditory and visual sides of the opera experience are sometimes struggling partners. (Should we cast for voice or look?)
You probably know more opera music than you think you do. If you like to watch TV or go to the movies, you’ve undoubtedly heard music from operas used in ways the original composers could never have even imagined. We’ve raided the Seattle Opera archives to put together a playlist featuring some of opera’s greatest hits—tunes you may already know because you’ve heard them in the cinema.
#1: From Apocalypse Now: Ride of the Valkyries (Die Walküre)
Francis Ford Coppola used the “Ride of the Valkyries,” famous music from the second opera of the Ring cycle, not for Wagner’s Norse goddesses of death but for American helicopters dealing out death from above in Vietnam in Apocalypse Now. It made for a brilliant, chilling moment—opera music used not just for emotional effect but as part of a film’s story.
Sung by Wendy Bryn Harmer, Jessica Klein, Suzanne Hendrix, Luretta Bybee, Tamara Mancini, Sarah Heltzel, Renée Tatum, and Cecelia Hall, with the Seattle Opera Orchestra conducted by Asher Fisch.
Giuseppe Verdi is to opera what Shakespeare is to drama. It’s hard to imagine the art form of opera without the work of this fantastic composer. In this playlist, we’ll give you a quick overview of Verdi’s career, which began in 1842 when he took Italy by storm with Nabucco,and concluded, fifty years later, with
his phenomenal Falstaff. During those
years, Verdi was the undisputed king of Italian opera, and it was his
relentless theatrical genius which transformed the genre from the
singer-focused bel canto shows of the
early nineteenth century into the almost cinematic kind of opera popular at the
turn of the century.
Last week, we posted a poll here on the blog that asked for everyone to vote for their favorite production of last season. As always, opera fans proved to have plenty of opinions and were not afraid to share them - and in turn, we LOVED hearing what everyone had to say!
The comments here and on Facebook revealed that most of you put a lot of thought into how you cast your vote. At first, the world premiere of Amelia took off, giving the tried-and-true Verdi classics fierce competition. But over the course of the week, all the Ringheads cast their votes and stole the show, claiming 33% of all the votes cast and winning the poll. Second place went to La Traviata with 23% of the vote, and the comedy Falstaff (15%) barely edged out the Amelia commission (14%) and the remaining Verdi opera, Il Trovatore (12%). To our delight, we also saw a few write-in votes for the Young Artists Program spring production of Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos!
Thank you to all who voted. Here's to another great season at Seattle Opera!
This past season brought you a trio of Verdi classics sandwiched between our signature production and a world premiere -- it's been quite a year for us here at Seattle Opera! Before we move on to the 2010/11 season, we want to take a moment to look back at our soaring 2009/10 season. This week, we're conducting a poll to find out audiences' favorite production of the past season. Are you a Ringhead or did you prefer the elegance of La Traviata? Did Peter Kazaras's innovative Falstaff tickle your funny bone or did you prefer the flames of Il Trovatore? Or perhaps the excitement of Amelia, a brand-new opera, was your perfect cap to a fabulous season. We want to hear from YOU -- so cast your vote (the poll is on the right side of your screen) and, if you want, share your thoughts with us in the comments section.
Francesco Demuro, the Sunday/Friday Alfredo in our recent production of La Traviata, recently made an unplanned La Scala debut.
The Italian tenor was at his home in Lucca on Friday, February 5, when he received a call from his agent asking how he felt about making his La Scala debut as the Duke of Mantua...in about four hours! He was scheduled to make his company debut in October 2010 as Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, but someone was needed to replace tenor Stefano Secco in Rigoletto that night. "And without even thinking for a moment," Demuro said, "I told him 'Yes!'" Demuro immediately left for Milan, arriving at the theater about 10 minutes after the performance began. He had mere moments to get staging and musical notes before going onstage.
"I wanted to show the world 'I am here,'" Demuro said, calling his debut "un grande successo!" And making his debut at La Scala in this role - a house where so many of the world's great tenors have performed - was extremely meaningful for him. Afterward, Demuro reflected on his amazing journey thus far - from singing folk songs in town squares in his native Sardinia to performing onstage at one of the world's greatest opera houses: "from the stables to the stars," he said.
Tonight's adult education event at Seattle University, second in our series of broad Verdi vs. Wagner topics, will look at politics in the operas and lives of these two great composers; more specifically we'll investigate how both of them rode the great nineteenth-century wave of nation-building which created Italy and Germany, as modern political entities, and how both saw glimmers of a different kind of political structure down the road, the first inklings of a truly global culture.
Verdi wrote the theme music for Italian unification; his name even became a political slogan, so that those who shouted "Viva Verdi!" in mid-nineteenth century Italy were waving flags supporting the movement that eventually crowned Vittorio Emmanuele II as king of the united Italy. And Wagner's connection to German nationalism is well-known, its ramifications still debated. Tonight we'll look at moments from Verdi and Wagner operas promoting national identity, German and Italian, as well as the xenophobia which tends to accompany such statements of unity. Then, we'll glance through a handful of their operas, comparing and contrasting how they present political issues such as fascism, capitalism, socialism, communism, colonies and empire, slavery, prejudice, displaced populations, and the industrial revolution and the environmental movement. And we'll end by looking at the lives both lived outside their native lands: as exiles, dissidents, outcasts, travellers, and (eventually) lionized celebrities. (We'll even hear some of the music they wrote in celebration of other political groups, Verdi's "Hymn of the Nations" and Wagner's "American Centennial March".) Come to Seattle University's Wyckoff Auditorium at 7 pm tonight, and join us for this interesting discussion!
Join us 7 pm, Tuesday February 2, to discuss political issues including nationalism and globalism in the operas of Verdi and Wagner. Hosted at Seattle University's Wyckoff Auditorium. For a full list of programming in this free series, click here.
If you can name all the locations in our lavishly-produced video trailer here, you get in free! (As does everybody else...)
You may have noticed small statues of Michelangelo’s David sculpture around Seattle over the past few weeks—sightseeing, enjoying a night on the town, and even hanging out at Seattle Opera.
Seattle Art Museum launched a promotion in October for its exhibit of Michelangelo sketches, among which is a sketch of his famous David statue being carted around Florence in a wooden crate. SAM made a dozen replicas of the statue which have been distributed around town.
When Little David came to visit Seattle Opera, he received a real behind-the-scenes glimpse of the company. He bought a ticket to La Traviata (the creation of another Italian master), he investigated the stunning costumes, he hung out in Francesco Demuro’s dressing room during the singer's make-up call, he joined Violetta’s party onstage, and - inspired by what he’d seen - he even requested an audition with Speight Jenkins.
You can check out all of Little David's Seattle adventures and learn more about how he got here over on SAM's blog. Have YOU seen him?
As La Traviata came to a close last week, our Facebook page recently saw some posts by familiar faces...both Nuccia Focile, our Wednesday/Saturday Violetta, and Francesco Demuro, our Friday/Sunday Alfredo, wrote on our wall to express their love and thanks to all the Seattle audience members and fans that made their time here so wonderful. We had to pass along their warm thoughts! Their comments, along with their Facebook profile pictures are posted below:
Nuccia Foccile: To all my friends at Seattle Opera: Thank you ever so much for being sooooooo wonderful. I miss you all!!!!!!!! Lots of love, Nuccia
Francesco Demuro: ..E' stato un onore lavorare con tutti voi..avete reso meraviglioso il mio debutto negli Stati Uniti...con infinita gratitudine...a presto!!!!!
(Translation: It was an honor to work with you all. You have made my United States debut wonderful ... with infinite gratitude ... see you soon !!!!!)
If you're not already a fan of Seattle Opera on Facebook, come join us and see these comments as they happen in real time. Connect with other Seattle Opera fans, see behind the scenes photos and videos, and now (just added yesterday!) write your own reviews of the operas you see on stage.
Last night, Seattle Opera’s Adult Education series continued with a presentation on “Verdi: Parents & Children”, given by me, Jonathan Dean, at Seattle University’s Wyckoff Auditorium. I surveyed a series of Verdi operas, including La traviata, Il trovatore, and Falstaff, and followed Verdi’s use of the images of sinfully arrogant parents, disobedient children, and the curse that smites generation after generation of a family. Verdi never puts romantic love front and center in his operas; his tenor-soprano love duets, lovely as some of them are, are never as compelling, or sexy, as the tenor-soprano duets in Puccini’s operas. Instead, Verdi’s best scenes showcase the love between parents (particularly fathers) and children, and his many baritone-soprano father-daughter duets are really where it’s at.
When you look at Verdi’s biography, it becomes evident why the composer responded so powerfully to stories about parents and children: as son, and as father, he was unusually blessed and cursed. (Look at our Seattle Opera Verdi Spotlight Guide for details!) After the decimation of his first family, Verdi’s career got going with Nabucco, an opera about an insanely arrogant father and his sadistically wicked daughter. He wrote Rigoletto, Il trovatore, and La traviata a decade later, at the time of his second family meltdown, and it’s easy to see how these operas all build on each other. Rigoletto closes with the image of the broken parent cradling the dead child, the grotesque Rigoletto with the daughter who was killed when he attempted to play God and be avenged upon his enemy; but in Il trovatore, Verdi’s next opera, that same story played long before the opera began, when Azucena murdered her own son in an attempt to be avenged upon her enemy. It’s fashionable to ridicule the complicated plot of Il trovatore, but the music Verdi wrote for Azucena’s nightmarish flashbacks, mental agony, guilt, panic, and frustration always impresses me with its unflinching, unbearable sincerity: what it must feel like to be responsible for your child’s death.
Azucena La mano convulsa stendo... stringo La vittima... nel foco la traggo, la sospingo... Cessa il fatal delirio... L'orrida scena fugge... La fiamma sol divampa, e la sua preda strugge! Pur volgo intorno il guardo e innanzi a me vegg'io Dell'empio Conte il figlio... Manrico Ah! Che dici! Azucena Il figlio mio, Mio figlio avea bruciato! Manrico Quale orror! Azucena Sul capo mio le chiome Sento rizzarsi ancor!
Azucena I reached out my trembling hand…grabbed the victim…shoved him into the fire… The deadly delirium stopped…the horrid scene fled [my eyes]… But the flames grew, and devoured their prey. I turned away, and saw before me the son of the wicked Count… Manrico Ah! What are you saying? Azucena My son, I burned my son! Manrico What horror! Azucena On my head I feel the hairs rising up again!
Conflict between parents and children drives most of Verdi’s operas. But the important thing is, they aren’t all like Nabucco and Abigaille, arrogant, obnoxious, and cruel. Many of Verdi’s characters, including the grotesque Rigoletto and Azucena, are wonderfully sympathetic. Verdi’s parents and children may have their problems, but we in the audience care about them because they love each other so much. Gilda and Rigoletto have their beautiful, moving scenes, Azucena and Manrico care enormously about each other, even Germont is a loving father to the two young people whose happiness he destroys in La traviata. My favorite Verdi opera, Simon Boccanegra, is almost a wish-fulfillment fantasy, for Giuseppe Verdi, about the best possible father he could be, with the best possible daughter. We listened to much of Boccanegra’s redemptive, healing music last night, and to some of the tender parent-child scenes from Verdi’s other operas: here’s a moment from Luisa Miller (written immediately before Rigoletto) in which father and daughter fantasize about escaping from their problems, together, into a world where every day is Daddy-Daughter Day:
Al nuovo albore noi partirem. Andrem, raminghi e poveri, ove il destin ci porta. Un pan chiedendo agli uomini andrem di porta in porta. Forse talor le ciglia noi bagnerem di pianto, ma sempre al padre accanto la figlia sua starà. Quel padre e quella figlia Iddio benedirà!
We’ll leave at dawn. We’ll wander, aimless and poor, Wherever destiny takes us. Begging our bread from men, we’ll go from door to door. From time to time we’ll bathe our eyes with tears, but the daughter will always be beside her father. Such a father and such a daughter God will bless!
Join us on November 17, at Seattle University, for a night of Wagner vs. Verdi and the great nineteenth-century Bohemian – Bourgeois tug-of-war!
Another Seattle Opera production closed last night, and all the captions are in. Our final contest winner is Pat Palmer for their caption, "Evel Knievel's Great,Great Grandfather." Thank you to everyone who played along in our silly contest!
As we relish fond memories (and tunes in our head) from La Traviata, here are all the winning captions throughout the production in review. Enjoy!
"They're really going all out in the donors' lounge this season!"
"If Scarlet O'Hara can get drapes to fit, so can I!"
"Violetta...I just saved alot of money by switching to Geico."
"SHE SAYS: Raise the roof.. HE SAYS:OH yea!!"
"Where are my car keys? I left them right here!"
"Lavish costumes still predominate in Sir Mix-A-Lot's otherwise thoroughly modern interpretation of "La Traviata." In this still, Violetta (Eglise Gutiérrez) plays coy as Alfredo (Francesco Demuro) sings, "LA face with the Oakland booty," from the "Un dì, felice, eterea" remix."
"Dude, I TOLD you counting cards doesn't work in this game..."
"I told you I was going to wear that dress tonight!"
"Your face is going to freeze that way."
"My dear, are you SURE eating all that garlic was a good idea?"
"All the single ladies....all the single ladies...."
"Why oh why did I have that triple shot macchiato after dinner? I'm never going to get to sleep."
Happy Halloween, Traviata fans! Today is the final day of our caption writing contest for this production, and the final chance for you to win a Traviata poster with our compliments. Yesterday's comments were great - we never knew that Nuccia Focile lying on her deathbed could be so funny!
The winning caption goes to Matt Meyers for his comment left on Facebook, "Why oh why did I have that triple shot macchiato after dinner? I'm never going to get to sleep."
Without further delay, it's time to unveil the last Traviata snapshot. Now is the time to pull out all the stops and submit all the funny captions you can think of. Only one poster remains...who will win it?!
Only two days remain of caption writing along with only two more performances of La Traviata! Yesterday saw several comments submitted both here on the blog and on Facebook, and the winning caption appeared in both places (not necessary, but we loved the enthusiasm of the author!).
Hats off (and a free poster!) to Christina Bystrom for her Beyonce shout out, "All the single ladies....all the single ladies...."
There are still captions to be written and posters to be won, so keep the creative and funny one-liners coming! Our next-to-last Traviata photo-of-the-day is below:
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