After two snarky blog posts about the bloated reputation of La Traviata and the tiresome magnification of subtle differences between classic opera performances, Anthony Tommasini counters both charges with one sublime piece in today's New York Times. I didn't think Leonard Slatkin's inexperience with La Traviata disqualified him to conduct it at the Met - on the contrary, I thought it made him perfect. Then Slatkin got pilloried and sacked, Marco Armiliato picked up the baton (so to speak), and Tommasini took the occasion to give NYT readers a master class in opera history and the importance of conducting. Did you know Giulini's "Un di felice" is 60 percent longer than Toscanini's? Did you know that when Alfredo sings the pivotal phrase "Di quell'amor..." Verdi writes "con espansione" ("with expansion") above the vocal line? Did you know that how much "espansione" is as much up to the conductor as the singer?
If you caught Tommasini's tour de force this morning, now you know. If you didn't, go catch it. It accomplishes the seemingly impossible: it makes La Traviata fresh again.
Comments