Daily Times

The Royal Opera House celebrates the 25th year anniversary of director Richard Eyre’s “La Triviata,” in English: the fallen woman.

And the singing is simply stunning. During the interval, a fellow opera critic cynically said to me that this production is always the same. Whilst I am alright with the idea of innovation in classical opera, I relish when it is done right and this is definitely one of the few performances that I truly adored.

Hrachuhi Bassenz playing the part of the courtesan Violetta Valery, on whom the entire opera is entered on, sang her heart out even though she was not in the best of health that evening. It took her a little while to get into the groove but she had the audience on her side fairly quickly.

The notion of a saintly courtesan is so antithetical and baffling that it is hard to stomach in thought and even harder to perform on stage. A courtesan is often stereotyped as a person who is draped in sin, but this one has a heart of gold. In the very beginning of the opera, she is introduced to Alfredo Germont played by Liparit Avetisyan; he declares his love to Violetta but she says that she is not for any serious engagement with men as she is destined for the life of pleasure. But then she proves to have a moral compass, someone with the ability to transcend herself for the better of the other and sacrifice for the sake of love-had it not been for this twist in the plot, La Traviata would’ve been fluff opera.

The notion of a saintly courtesan is so antithetical and baffling that it is hard to stomach in thought and even harder to perform on stage. A courtesan is often stereotyped as a person who is draped in sin, but this one has a heart of gold. In the very beginning of the opera, she is introduced to Alfredo Germont played by Liparit Avetisyan, who declares his love to Violetta but she says that she is not for any serious engagement with men as she is destined for the life of pleasure

Mr. Simon Keenlyside, who wonderfully plays the part of Alfredo’s father, is another strong link in the opera in terms of top-notch singing. His character responsible for Violetta’s predicament and ultimate sacrifice, as he comes to plead to Violetta to part ways with his son because their scandalous romance is the very cause of his daughter’s trouble who is soon to be married, but their liaison could very well jeopardise the impending marriage.

Violetta’s only source of comfort and care is Alfredo and she has been asked to let go of the only glimmer of hope there is in her life. There is nothing new to this as such, but the singing and the orchestra churns the emotions of the audience. That is why I feel there is no need for innovation as such, the singing has to be right, the emotion has to be conveyed, the character must be convincing. For that, hats off to Hrachuhi Bassenz who terrifically managed to woe the audience with her vivacious singing in the end of the act 1, manages to keep upland give her very best in Act 3-which is often dubbed the death scene-where we all become her fans and a bit teary eyed when she yells in pain, collapses and dies. She has definitely set the bar high.

The writer is an educationalist and broadcaster. He can be reached on fahad@caa.columbia.edu