Fthe result of the collaboration between Rai Cultura and Rome Opera Housethis evening at 9.15pm on Rai 5 Giuseppe Verdi’s masterpiece is broadcast The Traviata, in the version created by Mario Martone, in collaboration with the director of the Rome Opera Daniele Gatti. This film-opera avant-garde and imaginative, its protagonists, in the role of Violetta and Alfredo, the famous opera singers Lisette Oropesa and Saimir Pirgu.
The Traviatathe plot of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera
Inspired by the mid-nineteenth century novel by Alexandre Dumas fils The lady of the camelliasthe libretto by Francesco Maria Piave tells the story tormented love among the woman of the world Violet Valery and the young man Alfredo Germond.
The womanqueen of Parisian parties, for the love of this pure boy, decides to change his lifeabandon the city – with its luxuries and its transgressions – and move to the countryside. There the two lovers live happily, until one day father of Alfredotaking advantage of his son’s absence, he goes to talk to Violetta and forces her to stop their relationship. Their cohabitation risks ruining the wedding of Alfredo’s sister, an innocent girl who would suffer the consequences forever.
Violetta tries to oppose, but in the end, exhausted by the man who also insinuates that one day her beauty will fade, she writes a heartbreaking farewell letter to Alfredo. In the next scene, when he he finds her in Parisdesperate and angry, believing her to be in love with someone else he publicly offends her in a blatant way.
In the final act, the boy finally discovers the truth and he runs to Violetta to ask for forgiveness. But it’s too late, the woman is now at the end of her life due to tuberculosis. The ending is one of the most dramatic.
The performers Lisette Oropesa and Saimir Pirgu
American soprano of Cuban originsLisette Oropesa at 22 he made his triumphant debut like Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart at the Metropolitan in New York.
Since sings in several productions in New York theaterplaying, among others, Gilda’s roles in Rigoletto. In the 2022-23 season he debuts in the opera at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples The Puritans by Bellini e she was awarded the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture.
Lisette Oropesa in the role of Violetta in “La traviata”. (Photo by Fabrizio Sansoni)
The Albanian Saimir Pirgu, on the other hand, is among the most sought-after and prominent tenors in the panorama of international opera. Discovered very young by Claudio Abbadoperforms regularly at major theaters around the world including the Metropolitan in New York, Teatro alla Scala and the Bolshoi in Moscow. Particularly appreciated also in the concert fieldis considered among the fastest-rising artists in the world of opera.
Next to them too Anastasia Boldyrevaas Flora Bervoixe, e Roberto Accurso in those of Baron Douphol while the choreography is by Eleonora Abbagnato.
The innovative direction by Mario Martone
Film-opera, produced by Rome Opera House and Rai Cultura, is the second collaboration between the director Mario Martone and the musical director of the theater Daniele Gatti, after the success of The Barber of Seville by Rossini.
Mario Martone directs Lisette Oropesa and Saimir Pirgu in “La traviata”. (Photo by Fabrizio Sansoni)
Made in the middle of the pandemicwhen theaters were closed to the public,The Traviata it is not only a recorded work but an adaptation designed specifically for the small screen. And for music lovers, at the time orphans of opera performances.
As, the party scenes in Parisian salons are contrasted with empty armchairs while instead of the velvet salons of the Parisian high society we find a black floor. « The Barber of SevilleAndThe Traviata in this mixed form between theatre, cinema and television, they were difficult betsconsidering the very short recovery times and these months of pandemic restrictions” he declared at the time in a press conference Mario Martone.
Who then continued «We also filmed in other spaces of the theater, like the boxes and foyers. In the end I allowed myself some external shots with a couple of situations not present in the booklet. It was a real artistic and professional involvementwhich I hope will also open up new perspectives for the future.”
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