Welsh National Opera La Traviata at the Mayflower Theatre Southampton Review

Reviewed by Jane Warwick

The translation of La traviata is “Fallen Woman”.

This is a love story set in the 19th Century between Violetta a courtesan and Alfredo Germont who falls in love with her and persuades her to leave Paris and live with him. Violetta for duty (as a result of Afredo’s father visiting her), sacrifices her love for him and succumbs to an illness that has been consuming her

It is an opera in 3 acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on the play “La Dame aux Camélias” (1852), adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas fils.

Violetta is played by Anush Hovhannisyan, (an American who is a graduate of the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden) and she has the presence and soprano voice to play the role perfectly.

Alfredo is played by Kang Wang, (an Australian-Chinese and third year member of the Lindeman Young Artist Development Program of the Metropolitan Opera), whose tenor voice is also clear but with slightly less volume.

The other main characters are Flora, Violetta’s friend, played by Rebecca Afonwy-Jones (a Welsh mezzo-soprano who studied at The Guildhall School of Music and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland); Giorgio Germont, Alfredo’s father played by Royland Wood (a British baritone who studies at the Royal Northern College of Music ); Baron Douphol played by James Cleverton who is Violetta’s lover and rival of Alfredo (a baritone who studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama), Marquis d’Obginy played by bass singer Philip Lloyd-Evans (a long serving member of the Welsh National Opera who studied at the University of East Anglia and the Royal Academy of Music); Gaston (Alfredo’s friend played by tenor Howard Kirk); Annina (Violetta’s maid played by soprano Sian Meinir), Giuseppe (Violetta’s servant played by tenor Simon Buttle) and Doctor Grenvil (played by bass Martin Lloyd).

The scenery initially was dark providing the ambience of a 19th century house governed by candlelight. The ladies’ costumes were in muted colours, taupe and shades of pink and purple with Violetta’s purple costume being the most opulent.

The frivolous ladies dancing provided subtle hints of debauchery and they was plenty to entertain the eye seeing what cast members were up to as well as entertaining the ear.

The music was excellent, and the new orchestral pit did justice to the orchestral music of Verdi conducted by James Southall.

The English surtitles help to capture the depth of love that Alfredo has for Violetta with the words “love is the heart beat of the whole universe” These surtitles were produced by Simon Rees and were helpful for non-opera buffs like myself but these were not always on so you could just listen to the voices and music and watch the scenes.

The cast not only sang well but acted well with Violetta acting a drama queen in act one tossing the bouquet of roses aside and dying so slowly on act three. The dancers were amusing, particularly in the second act with the gypsy ladies causing excitement among the gentlemen and the matadors causing quite a stir in more ways than one.

The time flew and the idea of operas just consisting of excellent but large singers appears to be a myth and this opera by the Welsh National Opera appeared to portray the era it was in very well with how people in the society conducted themselves and as well as being tragic was fun.

This is the first time I have been to the Mayflower since it’s 16 week £1.5 million investment. The noticeable changes were the colour of the theatre red and gold in keeping with its 1920’s heritage which I could see was in keeping but I did prefer the lighter colours of the previous revamp 30 years ago which consisted of turquoise and ocean blue and salmon pink. It is a case of getting use to this change. Luckily not everything was reverted to the 1920s as the seats in both the stalls and circle have been replaced and these are not only wider but the sight lines have been improved which is especially good when stuck behind someone taller than yourself.

The ladies’ toilets also seem to have been upgraded. I am sure they have listened to the moans of the customers that there is always a long queue for the ladies so there appears to be more toilets (forgive me if I am wrong here as I did not count them before).

Would I recommend this? Definitely! Whether you are an opera buff or not, worth every penny and you must visit the Mayflower Theatre to see the new revamp for yourselves and the staff are as ever very polite and helpful.

Rating: 4.5/5

Tickets cost from £24 to £52 (booking fees may apply).

Welsh National Opera’s La Traviata is at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton from 21-23 November 2018, for more information or to book tickets visit www.mayflower.org.uk or call the box office on 02380 711811.

Mayflower Theatre, Commercial Road, Southampton, SO15 1GE | 02380 711811