Past Production Reviews
2The Royal Opera House’s latest revival of Richard Eyre’s version sees three different casts used during its run. The initial trio of Venera Gimadieva (Violetta), Samuel Sakker (Alfredo) and Luca Salsi (Germont) all pass muster on a difficult opening night: the original Alfredo Saimir Pirgu came down with a throat infection and was replaced on the day by the Australian tenor. Sakker, unsurprisingly, takes a little while to find his feet but absolutely nails his character’s pathos in the final act. In contrast, Salsi is a tour de force from soup to nuts, his acting perfectly complementing his character’s emotional arc. Russian soprano Gimadieva makes for a subtle Violetta whose impact is only truly felt from the second act onwards; her excoriating two-hander with Salsi is a no-holds-barred tearjerker which will stay long in the memory. Eyre’s production is a considerate and powerful piece. The set design is an expressive beast which ranges from the sumptuous opening party scenes to the denouement’s spartan mise en scène. Direction is fluid and punchy, especially towards the end; conversely the lighting makes a major impact on the first scene but adds comparatively little after. Down in the pit, Yves Abel conducts Verdi’s gorgeous music with verve and aplomb.
German soprano Ricarda Merbeth, whose approach to the overwhelming role of Emilia Marty merits great recognition. A hugely demanding task, Merbeth surmounted this challenge to deliver a stunning performance, filled with seduction, power, frenetic emotion and, ultimately, redemption. However, the role of Emilia draws its power equally from the relationship with the story’s principal roles, Albert Gregor (tenor Kiss B. Atilla) and Jaroslav Prus (baritone Vincent Le Texier), two men both caught in the seductive snares of the bewitching Emilia. The relationship between these three was convincing to say the least, with Albert driven to a compelling emotional insanity by Emilia’s charms, and Jaroslav’s sorrow and heartbreak upon discovering the cost of his actions as the opera comes to its ultimate climax. In addition to such a compelling performance, there was no hint of a linguistic barrier from any of the singers. Unsurprisingly, a Czech opera requires a significantly greater amount of preparation with regards to the text and its pronunciation. With this in mind, German soprano Ricarda Merbeth (and many of the cast) took a year to fully prepare for the role, an effort that has quite clearly paid off, given the utterly persuasive rendition from all the singers involved. In the final moments of Janáček’s masterpiece, the audience is closed in by off-stage horns and a male choir, creating one final moment of sublime power as the story of Emilia Marty, and this epic production, is brought to its climactic finish.
