This superb 2006 production of the Los Angeles Opera's La Traviata stars Renée Fleming, who joins the ranks of the elite handful of sopranos whose vocal and acting talents make their portrayals memorable. Her Violetta Valéry is a vulnerable figure torn between self-indulgence and love, sacrificing personal happiness to become a victim of the social mores of mid-19th-century bourgeois France. Fleming's acting captures the complexity of the character and her vocalism is flawless. She negotiates the wild coloratura of Act One with aplomb, and is stunning in the lyric passages that pervade the opera, and touching in her scenes with her lover, Alfredo, and his father. Her singing is free of the mannerisms that have sometimes crept into her work and at the same time she brings countless personal touches to the role, phrasing and verbal emphases that shed fresh light on the character.
Acting
Fleming's Violetta—vulnerable, vain, and devastating.
Direction
Domingo keeps it intimate, not stadium-opera distant.
Score
Verdi's melodies that worm into your soul permanently.
Director
Marta Domingo
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Renée Fleming recorded this role over 20 times; this LA Opera staging was her first filmed complete performance.
Verdi fought censors who hated a 'fallen woman' as heroine—he won, and 170 years later she's still breaking hearts.
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