Time Marches On: Willy Decker's La Traviata

 

Marina Poplavskaya as Violetta © Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

How sassy is it to inaugurate an opera production whose silent protagonist is a menacing clock on the holiday where it's all about ~the countdown~? Willy Decker's 5-year-old La Traviata takes its premiere tomorrow night (New Year's Eve!) at The Metropolitan Opera, his minimalist concept that features a large clock on a stark, Richard Serra curve, monopolizing the pulse of Verdi's score (and tragic heroine's demise) that starts the countdown from the first, loaded bars of the overture.

Everyone on stage in clean blacks, whites and reds, Decker's Traviata premiered in 2005 at the Salzburger Festspiele and starred La Netrebko as Violetta, Thomas Hampson as Germont and Rolando Villazón as Alfredo (with Carlo Rizzi conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker). It was lauded for its streamlined approach which allowed the characters to shed the often-overbearing architecture of hyper-realistic stagings.

Decker's new vision was cheered in Europe, but will his giant clock become a metaphor of NYC's collective cultural phobia of time marching on? Get with it or get lost in it! Are you ready? 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 -- Operapocalypse!

La Traviata for The Met stars Marina Poplavskaya as Violetta, Matthew Polenzani as Alfredo, and Andrzej Dobber as Germont with Gianandrea Noseda representing Verdi's twinkling score.

Preview it (with Salzburger's original cast) on YouTube. All photos copyright of The Met's go-to photographer, Ken Howard

Marina Poplavskaya as Violetta © Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Marina Poplavskaya as Violetta © Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Matthew Polenzani as Alfredo © Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Marina Poplavskaya as Violetta © Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

© Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Comments

[Bill Philin-Ploplis]

It should work if the performers are 110% committed to their interpretations and have the Verdi chops to do the music justice. They better have the voices though!!!! At least the stage is not cluttered with Regie junk.

[AskMeAboutOpera]

amami Alfredo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9JyY8v4iLQ&feature=channel
libiamo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5jH2y6hi8c&feature=channel

[Icarus]

"Decker's new vision was cheered in Europe, but will his giant clock become a metaphor of NYC's collective cultural phobia of time marching on? "

Exactly. Opera is NOT binary. If it's not the maudlin, romantic crap that Zeffirelli and his copycats churned out, it's appalling that it would be automatically labeled "Eurotrash". There's an alarmingly polar audience that thinks exactly along these narrow parameters. Thank god this artform is "marching on" with or without them. All of this defining makes a transcendent artform an incredibly bourgeois thing.

I have the DVD you linked and it's captivating. Hearing Anna and Rolando at their peak makes me lament the disasters that marred both of their careers in recent years. Hampson is also very powerful.

[Fabio]

That Marina Poplavskaya is a stunner! Whatever to Trebs and Villazon, I wish they could have brought over Thomas Hampson as Germont!

[John]

I'd love to see Poplovskaya in this. She impresses me more with every time I see her. I have the DVD from Salzburg and I think this is a wonderful interpretation of the piece.

[Bill Philin-Ploplis]

The Brindisi sounds pretty good, but.... The performers are all very exposed in this streamlined production. The chorus's mugging, especially the ladies in gents'attire, is ludicrous; Mme. Poplavskaya's dress is not well-fitted, and she doesn't know how to use her feet seductively in those heels (kind of thick-ankled for that length), and Mr. Polenzani doesn't have much Romantic stage appeal--he does look very bourgeois though, in keeping with his papa. Trebs and Villazon had a very special "look" that carried the show; I don't think the present "lovers" do.

[walter]

Thanks for the laugh!
The Met deserves nothing less...

[vale]

Vocal "peak"???
They all sound horrendous!

[Ida Lopes]

@Vale: I couldn't agree more. The production is very good but the singers... BTW, Villazón always sounds (and looks) horrendous!
Happy New Year, O.C.!

[Charlotte]

Met's dress rehearsal went well; Poplavskaya is pretty, icy, NOT Violetta; Polenzani under-powered, baritone forgettable . Set is ok & allows for flow of uninterrupted scenes (good!); Decker must have phoned in his work?
What Gelb 'bought' was Salzburg's production w/ those singers. What he got probably would not fly in the provinces, alas. Verdi and Met audience deserves better. A SIRIUS listen tonight might warm me a bit? HAPPY NEW YEAR, OC, & THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!

[El Cajon]

If we're going to have a vodka Violetta, give me Trebs over Popsy any day.

Felice Anno Nuovo, La O.C.

[cd]

Just watched the DVD last night (Christmas gift). Totally mesmarized by it. Really loved the staging, sheds the conventional characterizations. Loved Anna vocally and all. I'm not a Villazon fan, Polenzani bored me in Don Pasquale.

[kram]

The Salzburg DVD looks and sounds very well.
Have a very healthy and peaceful 2011, OpCh and all your fans and readers!!

[Eric]

What Gelb intended to do was to bring the Decker production to the Met with Villazon and Trebs. But Villazon wasn't vocally up to it and Trebs was no longer slim enough or physically fir enough, to pull off the dress and give "the look" of the Violetta she did, in the original production... so, Trebs declined to do the production, after Gelb announced it to the world.

[Cee]

"I guess the change in my pocket
Wasn't enough i'm like,
F*çk you!
And f*çk her too!"

[michael p]

All the hype about this production being NEW here in NYC gets on my nerves.
New to the Met yes, but hardly to the world.
What serious opera lover is unfamiliar with this five year old production?
It was the same with Don Carlo. New to the Met this year but seen years ago in London.
Yes, co-productions are the way to go. But as opera-goers are generally of a global disposition do companies other than the initial presenter have the bragging right to "NEW-ness?" Mr. Gelb, be assured I love the Met but this "Traviata" is not new!

[Bill Philin-Ploplis]

I did get to hear Act One and the beginning of Act Two. The Met has had a tradition of some fantastic Violettas/Alfredos. These two are OK; she has a strange voice (counter-tenorish?)and Polenzani seemed to struggle with the Verdi line with his light voice. Not sure if OK works in this kind of production.

[jada]

So interesting, there is a review from the Associated Press with no byline that I can see - is it by Mike Silverman, or someone else?

A poster on another blog indicates the reviewer describes blocking that didn't occur last night, but maybe they are in error.

An excerpt - "Vocally she is not perfect. Some brittleness on a few high notes marred her showpiece aria "Sempre libera" ("Always free"), which she delivers standing on the back of a red sofa. Her upper register can sound full and vibrant one moment, worrisomely thin the next.

But the total effect is stunning. This is her second leading role in a new Met production in less than a month, following Elisabeth of Valois in Verdi's "Don Carlo." Based on these performances, she figures to be a major presence at the house for some time."

So, we are worried about her voice and yet we are certain she will become a major presence at the house. Hmmmm. Typical disconnect and/or denial, same situation repeating itself over and over - with the same people pulling the puppet strings.

I personally don't think it's wise for a soprano to do overlapping productions of Elisabetta and Violetta, but hey who the hell am I?

[jada]

Now the byline is appearing on other sites - Mike Silverman.

[Dan]

@ICARUS : What disaster has befallen Anna Netrebko's career? Vocally she sounds resplendent in the house, her Stabat Mater with DiDonato and Pappano is wonderful, and she's scheduled to open the MET season this fall with Anna Bolena (which I hope she's studying for!)?

Not snarky, just curious what you think has harmed her career?

[tina]

Harry makes perfect sense.

What a joke some are.

[DanK]

Wow are the battles raging about whether Poplavskaya is the new great Violetta or not! Singer vs. Actress, apparently. I have only seen the two videos so I can't judge, but it seems to me it shouldn't be a case of either/or.

I would say people are quite defensive, and quite determined to make lemonade out of lemons, even with the positive press.

It's a case of settling, seems like. People are tired of feeling frustrated so they are refusing to be. It's sweet, really.

Btw, there's a moment in the video of the Libiamo where Madame P absolutely glares at the conductor. Guess she didn't like his tempo there. Funny.

And oh yes, listening to historic recordings, we all know that you can't hear what the singers truly sounded like, right?

[puck swami]

I wouldn't say Anna Netrebko's career has fallen into disaster territory, but time marches on...

Visually, she's put on some weight since her pregnancy, and she looks a lot different from her supermodel days 4-6 years ago. We can debate whether that should be relevant or not. Some say she should have hit the gym a little harder to keep her 'hot' look, while others say she's an older mother now, and should focus on her voice. She still acts well, and her performancees recently have been well-reviewed.

Vocally, she's nearing 40 now, and she's moving into the next stage of her career with a "bigger" sound. She is letting go of the Violetta roles and heading toward some heftier roles. Perhaps we will see her as Elsa in Lohengrin in the future.

At any rate, she still sells tickets and recordings around the world, has a big fanbase and she still has a magnetic star quality around her, even as she ages. We should all be so lucky.

[DanK]

I never cared about Anna's glamour, but it obviously has been a significant part of her allure. I think she is a beautiful woman whether she is as thin as she once was. It's almost absurd that we complain about zaftig sopranos these days. I am sorry, but a certain demographic cares about that far more than the rest of us - like opera singers should look like Barbie dolls or something.

Her age has nothing to do with her vocal estate, imo. She has a fantastic instrument, which if handled well should sound as fresh as ever. Going for a bigger sound if it's not what's right for her voice will lead to wobbles and mediocre singing. Minimal, offhand support technique leads to trouble, as well. I wasn't impressed with her Dresden thing, but didn't she jump in for that? Renee also sounded like she was fighting a bug, or was jet-lagged, for her concert(s) there.

I am interested to hear Anna's German or perhaps more Russian, as indifferent to it as she seems to be. She continues to show interest in the bel canto rep, but I am not sure she has the mental focus or passionate love of it (a la Callas, et al), which is required to fully realize that repertoire. She was sure to tell everyone she hadn't gotten around to studying the Bolena yet, though she had her reasons. She likes to lower expectations, I think. Who knows, maybe she'll knock our socks off?