Verdi: La traviata ***
English National Opera, 9th February 2015
Elizabeth Zharoff (Violetta)
© Donald Cooper | ENO
“È strano!” – “How curious!” – murmurs Violetta in the last moments of La traviata, on the sudden absence of pain before her final death throes. Two years ago, when this controversial production by Peter Konwitschny was first seen at English National Opera, I was completely knocked sideways by it. Could it deliver the same emotional blow to the solar plexus this time around? Strangely, it left me completely unmoved. How curious indeed. Ideas that initially seemed bold now risked irritation on repetition. If you haven’t seen it before, there’s a fair chance you’ll be bowled over by it.
Read the full review on Bachtrack.