Pittsburgh in the Round: Pittsburgh Opera’s 78th season opened Saturday night with the first of four performances of Giuseppe Verdi’s perennial La Traviata. First performed in Venice in 1853, the opera today holds its own as probably the most popular and frequently produced lyric drama the world over.
2 comments:
This review of the Pittsburgh Opera's season opener, La Traviata, was very thorough and enthusiastic. It seems to be really well orchestrated and performed so it's a shame that they only put on four performances. The two elements of this review which stood out to me were the comments on the set and on the conductor. Apparently the set was borrowed from Boston but was too small for the Benedum stage. Considering the size and extravagance of most operatic sets, I imagine this error would detract from the show greatly. I wish more photos had been shown or the that the problem would have been discussed more. Secondly, the conductor for La Travieta wasn't their usual conductor. However, he received the most glowing review and was described as a young man with great skill and no ostentatious tendencies. It was encouraging to read about all the newcomers to this production and that they met the greatness of the show itself. I hope to read more about the operations of the PO in the future.
I was hoping to go see this, but I'll instead live vicariously through this very thorough review. It's too bad that Danielle Pastin fell a bit short during the first act, but this production seems to have been very successful. Judging by the pictures, the set looks pretty minimalist for an opera. I can see a few set props (tables, chairs, etc.) and a good-sized wall, but not much else. I wish the author would have provided a few full-stage shots so we could see what the production looked like as a whole. Maybe they were trying to hide the fact that the set was too small. I wonder who decided to borrow the set instead of building it. It's good to see that the chorus enhanced the experience of the show. Poor choruses can really wreck an opera, but (at least from what I've experienced), the Pittsburgh Opera's chorus does an excellent job. Also, people are bringing selfie sticks to the opera? They need help.
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