ROH La Traviata - live screening and encore

[Ein Heldenleben]

I saw this last night and also a live performance last week. Last night's perf with Domingo as Germont was magnificent . I would really recommend the Encore repeat this Sunday at 2pm . He lifted Act 2 to a whole new level.

[underthecountertenor]

I saw this last night and also a live performance last week. Last night's perf with Domingo as Germont was magnificent . I would really recommend the Encore repeat this Sunday at 2pm . He lifted Act 2 to a whole new level.

I was at the ROH for the first of the performances with Domingo in this run. Magnificent indeed - he was rhythmically quite wayward at times (congratulations to the conductor and orchestra for following him), but it was well worth it for the moving intensity of his performance, and the sheer power of his voice. Jaho was simply astonishing. This definitely merits a DVD release, and I hope it gets it.

[Cockney Sparrow]

I hope for a DVD release too. I went to the cinema encore on Sunday and there was no downside to seeing the performers in close-up, compared to live in the house on 21st. I would welcome the chance to assess Domingos' performance with further study. A great performer and artist (reflected in the applause he got at the end) and an impressive achievement at his age. A question in my mind is whether he doesn't have the vocal agility these days (hence the late arrivals rhythmically) and personally at times (but not all times) I felt a loss of sustained line. But I haven't taken away a negative memory of his performance for which I am grateful. But I think I'm likely to continue to avoid his future appearances when attending the ROH.

I really went yesterday, again, to see if Jaho delivered a performance equal to the one I saw on 21st January. I agree - astonishing; in its commitment, drama and vocal ability - a great night at the ROH and similar in the cinema. If there is no DVD, I'll just have to cherish the memory..... (alongside, for example, Domingo as Otello).

It was also a great pleasure to see Charles Castronovo, who took his place in an excellent revival.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Good to hear you both enjoyed it. I wonder whether it might get a BBC 2 showing as they did with the recent Swan Lake. I'm kicking myself for not getting a ticket to the Domingo perfs but I was put off by a slightly underwhelming I Due Foscari a few years back. What was interesting comparing the live performance I saw two weeks ago with the relay is how he bought the rest of the cast up with him - particularly Castronovo . Jaho needs no encouragement - she is absolutely extraordinary and it is right to speak of her performance in the same breath as Domingo's Otello. As for him what can one say? The Times critic spoke of him prowling the stage like a grizzly bear - you could not take your eyes off him. He bought out the compassionate side of Germont superbly . His admonishment of Alfredo in the gambling scene , the death scene almost unbearable to watch . A couple of years ago a Sunday Times music critic described his contribution to opera as the greatest since Caruso . With performances like this at 78 who would disagree ?

[Dave2002]

We saw it in the cinema - very good. That's two Traviatas with perhaps only two months between them. Domingo was very good as Germont, while the sopranos in both the performances were extremely good - Damrau for the Met. The ROH version avoided the phantom daughter/sister appearing, which was arguably an unwanted intrusion in the NY version.

These performances had me wondering why Verdi wrote this opera - there seems to be a religious theme - as well as a railing against the unfairness of illness and the inevitability of death, yet by all accounts Verdi wasn't particularly religious. There is, after all, no need for anyone to be religious in order to write fairly convincingly about such matters. This opera is the only one by Verdi I can think of which has such an obvious concern for death and religion.

Noting that over time different productions have been set in different time periods led me to wonder about 20th Century or even 21st Century productions. The ending could be changed with the arrival of penicillin and other antibiotics, not to mention vaccinations to avoid the problems in the first place.

However, these wouldn't really solve the "problems" - the Grim Reaper will get us in the end whatever.

[underthecountertenor]

Good to hear you both enjoyed it. I wonder whether it might get a BBC 2 showing as they did with the recent Swan Lake. I'm kicking myself for not getting a ticket to the Domingo perfs but I was put off by a slightly underwhelming I Due Foscari a few years back. What was interesting comparing the live performance I saw two weeks ago with the relay is how he bought the rest of the cast up with him - particularly Castronovo . Jaho needs no encouragement - she is absolutely extraordinary and it is right to speak of her performance in the same breath as Domingo's Otello. As for him what can one say? The Times critic spoke of him prowling the stage like a grizzly bear - you could not take your eyes off him. He bought out the compassionate side of Germont superbly . His admonishment of Alfredo in the gambling scene , the death scene almost unbearable to watch . A couple of years ago a Sunday Times music critic described his contribution to opera as the greatest since Caruso . With performances like this at 78 who would disagree ?

Excellent summary.

[alywin]

The ROH's screenings search facility seems to be a bit of a mess. There's an afternoon Encore performance later on today at Stratford Picturehouse in London, for example, but that's not showing up on searches. I don't know what other Encore screenings may have been scheduled which don't show up either.

Sounds as though it would be great to have this on DVD/BBC, but I wonder if it's that simple with the rights for opera? After all, for the Royal Ballet I believe it's written into the company's contracts, but I'd guess that it would have to be negotiated with the individual artist with guest singers.

[alywin]

Good to hear you both enjoyed it. I wonder whether it might get a BBC 2 showing as they did with the recent Swan Lake.

Actually, it didn't. Even Swan Lake was banished to BBC4 :(

[Cockney Sparrow]

When they re-opened the ROH Shop (when the Linbury/Open Up development was finished) I asked why the choice of postcards/cards for opera goers were so poor compared to Ballet cards. I was told that in recent years Singers had copyright over their image reproductions; the Ballet company is under contract and its more straightforward.

Will Jaho's performance become available on DVD? Well, they have produced them for Suor Angelica and Madam Butterfly, so there is cause to nurture hope in this respect. If there were options on cinema relay, then they would have anticipated the same for DVD release? Domingo would also be a draw in terms of sales, he seems well disposed to the ROH and has no need to overly control rights. ROH already has a performance by Renee Fleming on DVD but she has said her farewell to performing on stage so there should be no great "artist relations" downside there.

The production is a wonderful setting to show Jaho at the height of her considerable powers (Castronovo, and - alright - Domingo, too). It would be a very great shame if it wasn't made available. Also, having filmed it for cinema relay, with subtitles, I presume there wouldn't be that much cost in preparing it for DVD.

As to TV / BBC - who knows what runs through the minds of decision makers of the BBC? Maybe if the price is right, or the embarassment of repeating, yet again the TOTP and other dross, becomes too much.

Traviata is my wife's favourite opera, she looked askance that I should want to see it in the cinema as well. I'd consider seeing it a third time! I made a search for cinema performances, and it only turned up at Showcase Reading and Bluewater - on 14th February, which I presume may be a mistake? But it must be difficult to keep track of these rather random showings, when the transmission has been handed over to an industry with multiple operators with even more locations. There might be even more repeat ("Encore") slots at some cinemas but they seem few and far between and I say, search your local ones and see if one turns up.

p.s the Picturehouse website turns up showings this afternoon at Stratford on Avon, Southampton and Norwich as well as Stratford London (about 1.30 to 2.00).

[Dave2002]

I think sometimes "encore" screenings turn up long after the first showings, but of courae they may be hard to detect, and in any case they may be in completely different parts of the country. I'm not sure if there's an app to watch for screenings - a kind of notifier alert app.

Some while ago I found ways of coding for this sort of thing - and indeed I think I may have posted some code fragments here and in other similar places, but I can't remember the details right now. I think my original code was to drive browsers with search engines to search multiple sites with multiple search terms - probably looking for bargains - but the code ideas can be widely applied. I can't remember also whether a Linux or Unix type OS is required, though if that was the case there is probably an easy modification for Mac OS - but Windoze might be a tad more difficult.

Sadly Yahoo Pipes is now defunct. That provided nice ways to do things of this nature.

[Darkbloom]

I defer to the judgement of those who actually saw and enjoyed this performance, but can Domingo sing anything now simply because of who he is? He remains a tenor and I'm sure Verdi wouldn't have approved of ruining the balance of voices like that. I know singers don't always have all the notes but Domingo doesn't even have the right vocal colour for these roles. You wouldn't have a light baritone sing Ochs or Boris Godunov, it would sound wrong, and having an elderly tenor attempt Germont pere seems the same, however well he appears to have been received.

[Dave2002]

I defer to the judgement of those who actually saw and enjoyed this performance, but can Domingo sing anything now simply because of who he is? He remains a tenor and I'm sure Verdi wouldn't have approved of ruining the balance of voices like that. I know singers don't always have all the notes but Domingo doesn't even have the right vocal colour for these roles. You wouldn't have a light baritone sing Ochs or Boris Godunov, it would sound wrong, and having an elderly tenor attempt Germont pere seems the same, however well he appears to have been received.

I wondered about that too. In the Met version Germont had what I think might have been the kind of vocal colour you expect. However, I did enjoy Domingo's performance and his acting anyway.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I defer to the judgement of those who actually saw and enjoyed this performance, but can Domingo sing anything now simply because of who he is? He remains a tenor and I'm sure Verdi wouldn't have approved of ruining the balance of voices like that. I know singers don't always have all the notes but Domingo doesn't even have the right vocal colour for these roles. You wouldn't have a light baritone sing Ochs or Boris Godunov, it would sound wrong, and having an elderly tenor attempt Germont pere seems the same, however well he appears to have been received.

He sang it very well. Yes the vibrato is wider now and some of the lower notes weren't 100 per cent on pitch . His voice got better as he warmed up . The other Germont who I saw live the previous week sang the role most beautifully and with more of a genuine bass baritone. But do you know what he didn't have any thing like the impact .There is singing and then there is inhabiting the role and commanding the stage and when you have two performers like Jaho and Domingo you have sheer theatrical / musical incandescence that even cuts through on the cinema screen . Mark Elder has remarked on the 'blade ' in Domingo's voice . It doesn't seem that loud on stage but cuts through to the rear of the amphitheatre. It's amazing that at 78 he still has that 'blade' to his voice.
Perhaps it comes from his curious habit of singing slightly out of the side of his mouth.

[Darkbloom]

He sang it very well. Yes the vibrato is wider now and some of the lower notes weren't 100 per cent on pitch . His voice got better as he warmed up . The other Germont who I saw live the previous week sang the role most beautifully and with more of a genuine bass baritone. But do you know what he didn't have any thing like the impact .There is singing and then there is inhabiting the role and commanding the stage and when you have two performers like Jaho and Domingo you have sheer theatrical / musical incandescence that even cuts through on the cinema screen . Mark Elder has remarked on the 'blade ' in Domingo's voice . It doesn't seem that loud on stage but cuts through to the rear of the amphitheatre. It's amazing that at 78 he still has that 'blade' to his voice.
Perhaps it comes from his curious habit of singing slightly out of the side of his mouth.

That's interesting. For such a recording star I feel odd saying this, but I don't think he comes across all that well on record compared to in the theatre. It's a much darker, more physical sound when heard live. I'd not heard Elder's description before but he puts it very well.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I completely agree . What the CD never captures is his on- stage presence which sometimes ( only sometimes ) lapses into hamminess. I once saw him as Cavaradossi falling to his knees whilst singing the high A sharp ( "Vittoria , Vittoria" ) in Act 2 of Tosca -after he emerges post- torture to hear the news that Napoleon has won at Marengo. He looked like he was fainting and the entire audience thought he was and gasped . That high A sharp never wavered . That is talent ....