From Amazon.co.uk
The 1853 Venice premiere of
La Traviata was one of the few failures the mature Verdi ever had--partly because its contemporary theme was too close to home for the audience; Marie Plessis, the original of Violetta and for a time the most popular courtesan in Paris, was only six years dead. The only Verdi opera entirely set indoors, and making minimal use of the chorus, it has always since between one of his most popular operas, and is perhaps his most affecting. Violetta is one of the most demanding parts he ever wrote in her mercurial shifts between joy, despair and practicality; Ileana Cotrubas's voice spans the whole range of effects that Verdi uses to portray Violetta, from coloratura to something close to speech, yet Cotrubas is always actress as well as singer, and always remembers what these effects are for. Domingo is a suitably ardent lover, and surprisingly good in the scenes where the spurned Alfredo turns nasty; Milnes is particularly fine in his duet with Violetta. asking her to break her heart, and learning pity. Carlos Kleiber has only ever recorded works where he was entirely satisfied with what he could do--here, as always, this approach guaranteed excellence. --
Roz Kaveney
Amazon.com essential recording
The best
Traviata on disc? If not, it's within hailing distance. No true
Verdian would want to be without
Callas's 1955 live recording, and it's hard not to love those starring
Moffo, Caballe,
Scotto,
Sutherland, and de los Angeles among others. But this set offers the best all-round combination of excellent sound, fine singing, and dynamic conducting. Ileana Cotrubas is a wonderfully spontaneous Violetta, conveying the passion and vulnerability of the character. Only Callas among her starry rivals on disc can match Cotrubas's emotional and vocal mastery here. Domingo sings with ardor, and Milnes uses his beautiful voice to good effect as Germont. But it's
Carlos Kleiber's show, and that enigmatic conductor leads the most energetic
Traviata since Toscanini. Tempos are fast, but his sense of theatricality is unerring--this is one of those studio recordings that captures the sense of being at the opera house listening to one of those rare performances when everything clicks.
--Dan Davis
