La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi ~ Arena di Verona Italy

La Traviata is the first opera that I have seen. I have never really been interested in this style of music before, but I had heard from various people that live opera is a various different experience to the one of listening to it on a CD.

Whilst on holiday my mum and I were staying about an hour away from the Arena di Verona so decided that we would give it a try. To be honest I had absolutely no idea of what to expect, I knew that the operatic concerts were held in an old roman amphitheatre; but I could never have imagined how amazing this would actually be. I think that each performance can hold up to about 17,000 people, with padded velvet seats at the bottom to those on the original stone tiers at the top. The photo below shows something of the scale and uniqueness of the venue. (Unfortunately we were misinformed before hand that cameras found inside the arena would be confiscated so I haven’t been able to include any of my own.)

Shortly before the opera began the people on the tiers all lit candles, I can’t really describe what it was like to sit listening to someone singing without amplification, fill the stadium with their voice whilst being surrounded by candlelight. It really was a unique experience. Like most people, I had a preconceived idea of what I thought opera music was like. Whilst I know there are many performances that are warbled and difficult to listen to, I have to say I actually didn’t find this with La Traviata.

The opera of La Traviata tells the story of the lead character Violetta Valery (Inca Mula) a Parisian courtesan),and how she falls in love with and is later forced to leave the young gentleman Alfredo Germont (Roberto Aronica). Alfredo’s father Giorgio (Franco Vassalo) is the one to encourage Violetta to leave his son as their relationship he says is bringing disgrace upon his family. After scenes at a party where Alfredo, not knowing the true reason why Violetta left, publicly humiliates her and throws money at her feet for her ‘services’. Giorgio later confesses to his son what really happened. The opera concludes with Violetta who has been ill with tuberculosis dying in the arms of Alfredo after the two have been reconciled only moments before.

La Traviata is split into three different acts with four distinct sets the designs and costumes of which were created by Paul Brown a welsh designer. Apart from the setting this is the element that interested me the most. Since going to the opera about a week ago, I have found out that whilst director Julian Kovatchev was very true to the plot and score of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, he also commissioned some more daring visual accompaniments.

At the time I didn’t understand why the American couple who were sitting behind us were so shocked by the set and costumes saying “just shut your eyes and listen to the music it makes it much better”. I of course knowing nothing of what to expect was actually found that the sets helped me to understand what was going on (with everything being sung in Italian and me knowing little more than I have included above before we went in) however I now know why they found them so shocking. The following is an image of what most people would expect from an opera such as La Traviata and my very poor sketch that I did shortly after I had been of what the actual costumes looked like.


















As I explained above I didn’t have my camera on me so the following are photos I found on the internet of some of the operatic sets, as you can see they are a long way from the elegant ball rooms that are common in this performance.

Being so totally new to opera I am probably not the best one to comment on how appropriate these designs are, however my personal opinion was that they added to rather than detracted from the performance. As was highlighted by the fact all Arena announcements were done in four different languages, there is a very wide audience that goes to these operas. Many like me will not have really gone knowing anything of the plotline and therefore seeing it performed in such a outlandish and theatrical way meant you got a better picture of what was going on. There were elements that were far from traditional of course but I these were all there with some purpose, often to highlight a fact that some people may not otherwise be aware of such as a change of location or attitude in the characters.



On a different note, the technical construction of the sets was actually amazing, the heart shaped backdrop that can be seen from above folded out from the floor as did the fan of cards in the other image.

Overall I loved my visit to see La Traviata in Verona. I have to admit I won’t be rushing to listen to opera music when at home, however if ever given the opportunity to see another live performance I would go. The technical ability of the cast was amazing as was their ability to convey intense emotion in their singing, I don’t think I will ever forget Violetta’s dying moments on stage. It was such a fantastic experience, I would say that even if like me you don’t think you enjoy opera music but you get the opportunity to go, take it. Seeing something of this scale in the setting of Verona at night is something that I will always remember.