Review: Charming art-deco ‘La Traviata’ closes San Diego Opera’s 52nd season

April 23, 2017 10 AM PT

San Diego Opera is closing its 52nd season this month in spectacular fashion with an eye-popping staging of “La Traviata” that shines in its art deco design, stylized choreography and fine acting, if not always its singing.

The lush production, which director/designer Marta Domingo first created for L.A. Opera, moves Giuseppe Verdi’s musical tale of the dying Parisian courtesan forward from the 1850s to the roaring 1920s.

The re-setting is artfully explained in pantomime during the overture, where a shy, conservatively dressed young woman arrives in the big city and is reluctantly seduced by a passing stranger. As she’s dragged away by the man, she sees her later self, a sexy flapper with bobbed hair and short skirt who has become a seducer of wealthy men — a modern courtesan who lives for excitement in the free-wheeling era.

“La Traviata” got off to a slow start on opening night Saturday, with conductor David Agler’s orchestra overpowering the singers in the first act party scene and a couple of missed high notes by tenor Jesús Garcia as Alfredo during the famed “Brindisi” drinking song.

But any missteps were quickly forgiven by act two, when the restrained orchestra supported the sublime singing and acting of soprano Corinne Winters as the heartbroken courtesan Violetta Valéry and the powerhouse vocals of baritone Stephen Powell as Giorgio Germont, the disapproving father of her impulsive young lover Alfredo.

From there, the production goes from strength to strength, with the dance-enhanced third act and Violetta’s moving final act, where Winters showed why she’s one of the world’s top interpreters of the role. Her voice is creamy, delicate and flexible in the coloratura role, but she also brings a raw authenticity to her acting.

Garcia, as Alfredo, warmed up vocally by act three and has a nice Italianate sound that blended well with that of Winters, though they didn’t have much romantic chemistry.

There’s nice vocal support from bass Kevin Langan as Violetta’s doctor, Grenvil, mezzo-soprano Peabody Southwell as the courtesan Flora and soprano Tasha Koontz as Violetta’s servant Annina. San Diego Opera Chorus, conducted by Bruce Stasyna, offered some rousing vocals in the opera’s familiar choral numbers.

Domingo’s production looks great, with a black lacquer proscenium arch framing the stage, a lavish gold chandelier and painterly fall trees backdrop illuminated beautifully by lighting designer Alan Burrett.

Violetta makes her grand entrance in act one in a 1928 Chrysler touring sedan that’s black and white, like most of Domingo’s elegant costumes, which are inspired by the ’20s-era designers Erté and Demétre Chiparus.

The third-act ballet is written — with sung accompaniment — for a troupe of Spanish dancers telling a bullfighter’s story. In this production, choreographer Kitty McNamee has re-created her L.A. Opera original dance steps which resemble Egyptian-inspired Chiparus statuary come to life. It’s a mismatch, but easily forgivable thanks to McNamee’s fascinating angular choreography and the gravity-defying leaps by lead dancer Louis Williams.

Saturday’s audience roared their approval for the performances of both Winters and Powell, and the design also clearly charmed showgoers. Ticket sales are brisk, so it’s likely to finish off the company’s season with a bang.