“How many Lemsips do you think they go through?”, my friend leant over to ask in the stalls of His Majesty’s Theatre. Anyone who overheard our pre-opera chat on Thursday evening at Scottish Opera’s La traviata would have deduced very quickly, we were not connoisseurs. In fact, it was our first time seeing any opera on stage.
But after hearing many times that opera is for everyone, we decided to put it to the test. The plot The tale of La traviata – meaning the fallen woman – is one that is doomed from the start. In the second revival of , the story, sung in Italian with subtitles, follows 19th century Parisian courtesan Violetta Valéry played by Hye-Youn Lee.
In a world of entertaining rich men and attending lavish parties, Violetta falls head over heels with the idealistic Alfredo Germont – performed by Ji-Min Park in his Scottish debut. The lovers face many challenges due to social conventions and family expectations, and eventually, the consequences of Violetta’s lifestyle prove to be her ruin. Sweeping sets, dazzling voices and raw emotions For a tragedy, the revival of La Traviata, directed by Leo Castaldi, is at points full of much light and laughter.
As soon as the curtain lifted, the audience was greeted with a candlelit room crammed with giggling party-goers dressed in their finest. Between the on-stage shenanigans in every corner, the English subtitles and music director Stuart Stratford’s precise and whole-hearted baton gesticulating, it was a s.