The Montreal Opera, which opened its season with the luminous Marriage of Figaroends it in tears with The journey. This new production was a great and deserved success for its premiere on Saturday evening at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.
It’s another one of those shows postponed we don’t know how many times because of the pandemic. Co-produced with the opera houses of Winnipeg, Edmonton, Victoria and Vancouver, this Traviata directed by Alain Gauthier teleports into the world of Parisian jazz of the 1920s, marked in particular by the figure of Joséphine Baker.
This transposition is far from doing violence to the work (the only slight exception is the mention of the “louis” at the end). From the basket, where we were, we notice some accessories (Violeta’s feathered headdress in the first act, a mirror surrounded by light bulbs in the last act…) which evoke a more recent era. But overall, in terms of visual aesthetics, we are not light years away from the Paris of Marie Duplessis, the real Lady of the Camellias that Alexandre Dumas fils frequented in the mid-19th century.e century.
Because the stage set-up – impressive! – by Christina Poddubiuk constantly keeps us in the same bourgeois Parisian residence where a monumental staircase stands Twilight Boulevard. Kevin Lamotte’s skilful lighting (that azure of the first scene of Act II!) and the alternation between closed or open shutters and crimson curtains are enough to make us change worlds.
As for the different singers, it is Talise Trevigne who steals the show in the title role. Even if the high notes are perhaps sometimes too restrained, the American soprano stands out for her committed and nuanced interpretation of the tuberculosis. His “Addio, del passato” was simply moving.
PHOTO VIVIEN GAUMAND, PROVIDED BY PRODUCTION
The staging teleports the audience into the world of Parisian jazz in the 1920s.
It is more difficult to talk about Antoine Bélanger’s Alfredo, called in a few days’ notice to replace Kosovar Rame Lahaj. If the Quebec tenor had offered an honorable performance a few weeks ago in Enigma at the Théâtre Maisonneuve, it’s quite another thing, in terms of vocal and stage influence, to sing Italian opera in a room twice as large.
Bélanger favors a smooth vocal delivery, which can be a quality in certain repertoires, but less so in Verdi, where we expect a touch of vocal insolence, especially in the high notes (difficult cabalette in the second act).
James Westman’s Giorgio Germont is of a completely different nature. If he gave us a few scares when he entered with exaggerated singing in the mask, the Ontario baritone would subsequently produce first-rate singing.
The smaller roles all did well, particularly the well-voiced Marquis d’Obigny of the young baritone Geoffrey Schellenberg.
This Traviata also marked the return to Montreal of conductor Jordan de Souza, who asserted himself with authority in the pit with the Orchester Métropolitain. His approach to the score can occasionally give rise to discussion (Alfredo and Germont arias fairly fast and the introduction to the first act surprisingly slow), but it is always personal and embodied.
In conclusion, this Traviata is the archetypal show that works well and satisfies regulars and newbies alike.
The show is repeated on May 7, 9, 12 and 14 at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts.