It must be the holidays. Peppermint sticks soak in hot cocoa that is being dutifully guarded by poinsettia colored balloon dogs. It’s the party of my life, but I can’t help but wonder if Violetta would think so. I think she would have to at least concede one nod of approval as we dance beside the Frick’s priceless Rembrandts.
Once upon a time, like Violetta I was an expert on parties. Parties I learned only end in three ways: to go home alone, go home with someone you don’t care about, or go home with someone you do care about. Maybe a fourth way too, but that involves a lot of vomiting that I don’t recommend.
Walking home from the Frick’s holiday party, the lamps* guide us through the fog and mist of Central Park and not even the rats scurrying past the Balto sculpture can spoil this romantic evening.
La Traviata begins with a purple camelia flower projected above the stage as large as Alfredo’s love for Violetta. It changes color act by act as she changes in feeling and health.
Beside me speaks a woman with a German accent who tells me she used to be a pianist. I steal a glimpse at her long veiny fingers, a tribute to a lifetime of concerts. Meeting new people and hearing their stories is what it’s all about. While I think about this an older woman with a cane bends in front of me and kindly picks up my phone that unkowingly fell. I want to think about the collision of contradictions around me but, the show is about to begin.
The Met’s a special place and the performers tonight sound great with Yannick conducting. I’m rooting for Violetta to beat the odds of tragedy with her honest independence and moral compass.
My favorite moment is when she hears a carnival outside and remembers her partying days, and Verdi just nails the nostalgic remembrances of youth’s regrets and triumphs. I think maybe the dignity of Violetta at the end is her shouldering the contradictions of life with grace.
So What’s La Traviata all about? It begins with Violetta on her deathbed recounting her life as a courtesan and a party girl who lives a philosophy of fun and free love, but it is slowly catching up with her. Alfredo enters and challenges her philosophy with his own, which is true love. Will Violetta sacrafice her fun lifestyle to find true love or will class differences and her past get in the way?
Notes on the production
* If you ever get lost in Central Park get yourself to the closest light pole. There will be four numbers at the base, the first two indicate the closest cross street, the 2nd two, if even, are for the east side and if odd, for the west, the lower the second number the closer you are to the edge of the park. Be free, and don’t fear the brambles.
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Composer……………………………..…..Giuseppe Verdi
Violetta Valery………………………… Diana Damrau
Alfredo Germont…………………..… Juan Diego Florez
Giorgio Germont……………………… Quinn Kelsey
Baron Douphol………………………… Dwayne Croft
Gastone……………………………….…… Scott Scully
Annina………………………………………. Maria Zifchak
Conductor…………………………..…… Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Metropolitan Opera
12/15/18