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My obsessed post on La Traviata
Mar. 23rd, 2018 09:28 pmVerdi/Piave 4/5, Salzburg 2005 Netrebko/Villazón, Hampson 5/5, 2016 Rebeka/Demuro/Hampson 3+/5 (Hampson 5/5)
So somehow I never figured out that La Traviata is based on La Dame Aux Camelias -- I would have listened to it much earlier had I known! I had never actually read or seen Camelias (though now I have skimmed it), but I did know from King of Paris, the fictionalized biography of Alexandre Dumas (mostly pere, but also fils), to expect it to be chock-full of daddy issues, and I was not disappointed. La Traviata is, indeed, hilariously clearly written by someone with parental Issues. (I don't know anything about the librettist, but wow, even compared to Camelias the parental angst was punched up to the max.) I mean, no judgement here. I am basically in this opera for the parental issues, to the extent that when I start watching a new Traviata I literally just skip to the scenes with Giorgio Germont (henceforth just Germont) first. (It also helps that in all of Germont's solo arias he's simultaneously interacting with someone else on the stage. I don't have a lot of patience for solo arias! Yes, I really am a Philistine.)
( More than you ever wanted me to say about the scenes with Germont in them )
I have also fallen totally in love with Thomas Hampson and his Giorgio Germont (though Sherrill Milnes is amazing too, and his recording with Ileana Cotrubas and Placido Domingo is probably my favorite recording). To be honest I quite like the way he looks -- but really I've fallen in love with his voice (which is much more smooth and pure-toned than a lot of other Germonts out there), and his superlative acting, both with his body/face and his voice.
There are two full-length Hampson Traviatas on Youtube that I think are spectacular:
2005 Salzburg Decker Netrebko/Villazon/Hampson (the entire freaking thing)
( I have SO MANY FEELINGS about the Decker production, mostly about Germont/Hampson, some about Violetta/Netrebko. )
2016 Rebeka/Demuro/Hampson (mostly for the scenes with Germont)
( I also have feeelings about, well, mostly Hampson. )
Okay, so now that I've dipped my toes into Verdi and shockingly liked it (at least I was shocked!), what other opera should I get obsessed with now? I, uh, might be currently going through any opera that Hampson has footage in, which means Thais and Tosca are on my list (ha, and after saying I liked sympathetic villains!) and maybe Arabella -- but even for Fleming and Hampson, and Strauss, I'm not sure if I can do it, the synopsis looks incredibly boring to me.
So somehow I never figured out that La Traviata is based on La Dame Aux Camelias -- I would have listened to it much earlier had I known! I had never actually read or seen Camelias (though now I have skimmed it), but I did know from King of Paris, the fictionalized biography of Alexandre Dumas (mostly pere, but also fils), to expect it to be chock-full of daddy issues, and I was not disappointed. La Traviata is, indeed, hilariously clearly written by someone with parental Issues. (I don't know anything about the librettist, but wow, even compared to Camelias the parental angst was punched up to the max.) I mean, no judgement here. I am basically in this opera for the parental issues, to the extent that when I start watching a new Traviata I literally just skip to the scenes with Giorgio Germont (henceforth just Germont) first. (It also helps that in all of Germont's solo arias he's simultaneously interacting with someone else on the stage. I don't have a lot of patience for solo arias! Yes, I really am a Philistine.)
( More than you ever wanted me to say about the scenes with Germont in them )
I have also fallen totally in love with Thomas Hampson and his Giorgio Germont (though Sherrill Milnes is amazing too, and his recording with Ileana Cotrubas and Placido Domingo is probably my favorite recording). To be honest I quite like the way he looks -- but really I've fallen in love with his voice (which is much more smooth and pure-toned than a lot of other Germonts out there), and his superlative acting, both with his body/face and his voice.
There are two full-length Hampson Traviatas on Youtube that I think are spectacular:
2005 Salzburg Decker Netrebko/Villazon/Hampson (the entire freaking thing)
( I have SO MANY FEELINGS about the Decker production, mostly about Germont/Hampson, some about Violetta/Netrebko. )
2016 Rebeka/Demuro/Hampson (mostly for the scenes with Germont)
( I also have feeelings about, well, mostly Hampson. )
Okay, so now that I've dipped my toes into Verdi and shockingly liked it (at least I was shocked!), what other opera should I get obsessed with now? I, uh, might be currently going through any opera that Hampson has footage in, which means Thais and Tosca are on my list (ha, and after saying I liked sympathetic villains!) and maybe Arabella -- but even for Fleming and Hampson, and Strauss, I'm not sure if I can do it, the synopsis looks incredibly boring to me.
