Verdi - La Traviata / Rudel, Sills, Price, Fredricks, Wolf Trap Festival

Rating:
Summary: This Version Leaves a Lot to be Desired
Review: Although Beverly Sills gave a magnificent performance, this video was poorly made. The subtitles could not be removed and that was very anoying. There are many distortions on the video, such as flickering, throughout the entire performance. The top of the directors head was caught on tape in several scenes. I wish that more people who reviewed this DVD would have commented on these points. Had I known the poor filming quality in advance, I would not have purchased this one.

Rating:
Summary: La Traviata Like You've Never Seen It Before
Review: Beverly Sills KNEW the role of Verdi's Violetta Valery more than any other singer. She sang the role as a young woman (1950's, 60's) an estimated 54 times in the scope of 63 days. Today, opera lovers, young and old but those who saw Callas live, old, talk about Maria Callas in her performance as Violetta. Always Callas. There is also much hype concerning Joan Sutherland's Violetta and recently Angela Gheorghiu's interpretation. But more than any other soprano in the past 50 years, Beverly Sills mastered the role closest to perfection. In this live, filmed performance, together with the talents of tenor Price (Alfredo) and Fredericks (Giorgio Germont), and a lavish orchestration by Julius Rudel, La Traviata has never been quite like this. I am very disappointed with the other reviews revolving this film. Not only are they very brief, but they neglect the true beauty of Beverly Sill's greatness on stage. Apparently, these are not true Beverly Sills fans. It does not matter that at the timeo of this performance, Sills was turning 50 and soon to be retiring from her marvelous career. Although her voice was not as youthful nor as sonorous as it was in the past, and she looks older, her voice and her acting ability it is still very beautiful and much better than other soprano (like Callas) who lost their voice in their later years.

Rating:
Summary: BEVERLY SILLS IS BRILLIANT.
Review: How wonderful that one of her greatest roles has been preserved on video. The supporting cast is merely adequate and the sets are work-a-day, but Sills is MAGNIFICENT! After Callas, I consider Sills to be the greatest singing actress of our era. BRAVA! BRAVA!

Rating:
Summary: Beverly's Version Is Heavenly Opera And Drama
Review: I am fan of Beverly Sills, having all her great performances on cd recordings. Her live performances, captured on film, are very rare. On DVD, there is only availabe this La Traviata performance and Roberto Devereaux. Kudos to the producers who made it possible for audiences to see a diva in a brilliant performance, eventhough she is much older and her voice is not what it just to be. Nevertheless, she is exceptional as an actres, finding herself the equal to Maria Callas, and her voice is the most beautiful soprano of the century. Deconstructing her portrayal of Violetta, give us a greater admiration for her talent.

She sings beautifully and performs with dramatic flair in every scene. Her coloratura lines in the duet with Alfredo "Un Di Felice", her bubbly operetta heroine persona is clear though every recitative, especially in the lines "Lo Voglio! Al piacere m'affido io sol con tal farmaco i mali sopir!" and her "Addio" to Alfredo at the close of the party scene. Her cavatina, "A Fors E Lui" is full of rich lyricism, flowing with the bel canto beauty she was very comfortable with, and her bouncy caballeta, "Sempre Libera" is embellished with thrilling scales and ends with an E flat above a high C. In her long duet with Germont in Act 2, she lyrically conveys all the pathos and suffering of a woman giving up the man she loves, proven in her aria "Ditte A La Giovine" and in her passionate "Amami, Alfredo". In her final scenes, in which she is dying, her aria "Addio Del Passato" is haunting and gorgeous, effectively performed by a woman who could bring herself into the role, eventhough Beverly always looked quite healthy, and did not care about having the appearance of a frail, petite woman dying of consumption, as most opera casting does today for Violetas. Her "Ascolta, Amato Alfredo" to the last breath she utters, "O gioa!" are unsurpassed.

Julius Rudel conducts his orchestra with upbeat, dramatic prowess, and the chorus is excellent. The quality of sound and picture are not the best, and are even annoying and grueling to watch , but we must remember this was before the live Met film performances of the 80's. This was filmed in the late 70's. Beverly Sills retired in 1979 and took up artistic administration in New York City Opera and the Met. Currently, she holds a position as chairman at the Met. She has inspired many fine sopranos of our day. She is and always will be the Queen of Opera.

Rating:
Summary: La Traviata Like You've Never Seen It Before
Review: If one reads history, Violetta (a Courtesan) was much older than Alfredo, which was very common during those times. Although Beverly Sills was 50 at this time, her age has nothing to do with her ablility to sing the score and portray a very convincing Violetta. She also in her career has sung this opera on stage more than 250 times, that in itself is a great achievment, to which Callas couldn't even claim.
This was one of the greatest singing actress's of our time, and deserves to be a part of anyone's operatic collection.

Rating:
Summary: Beverly Sills at 50
Review: If one reads history, Violetta (a Courtesan) was much older than Alfredo, which was very common during those times. Although Beverly Sills was 50 at this time, her age has nothing to do with her ablility to sing the score and portray a very convincing Violetta. She also in her career has sung this opera on stage more than 250 times, that in itself is a great achievment, to which Callas couldn't even claim.
This was one of the greatest singing actress's of our time, and deserves to be a part of anyone's operatic collection.

Rating:
Summary: The music was wonderful but Sills was 50 playing 20
Review: This was a wonderful film musically speaking but in some ways it was dissappointing.The sets were incredibly unincredible and I did not agree with the casting in some respects.Beverly Sills was wonderful but to old and the Alfredo was just (FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD)wimpy and a bad actor.Still the music was absolutely beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: Beverly Sills - Born May 25, 1929
Review: Two different reviewers state Sills age as 50 here. Since this performance is from July 1976, simple math shows that she was 47, not 50. Sills is still quite wonderful here, the voice only slightly diminished - the rest of the cast is provincial at best. A nice memento of Sills live on stage, in one of her best Verdi roles.



Rating:
Summary: Viva The Diva: A La Traviata For The Ages
Review: Verdi's La Traviata remains one of the most popular, performed, produced and recorded operas in history. Well-trained sopranos would give their right foot to debut as Violetta in any of the major opera houses- New York City's The Met, Italy's La Scala, London's Covent Garden or the Paris Opera. There is a long list and rich history of sopranos who have sung Violetta, opera's most tragic, romantic heroine. In the 19th century, there was Adelina Patti, in World War II Era there was Christine Nilsson, in the 50's there was Maria Callas, in the 60's there was Anna Moffo, Victoria De Los Angeles, Joan Sutherland and somewhat more recently (80's and 90's, 2000- to the present) Ruth Anne Swenson, Renee Fleming, Angela Gheorgiu and Elizabeth Futral. But Beverly Sills stands alone as a remarkable singing-actress, whose Violetta should serve as a lesson to sopranos who take on the role, as Beverly set the bar a little higher with her touching lyricism, convincing acting and dazzling coloratura.

Beverly first sang the role in the late 50's and early 60's. It was her first major role outside of the German operetta repertoire she had been singing. The role of Violetta was her debut in Italy's San Carlo theatre in Naples and she performed Violetta in several American opera houses. She went full circle after more than 50 roles she sang in her opera career when she finished her career singing Violetta again in 1975 for Wolf Trap. This performance was taped on video and is now available on DVD. Although it is true that Beverly was 50 and past her "singing prime" and soon to retire from the stage to manage the New York City Opera and the Met, she is still very believable as Violetta, just as touching and surprisingly, still an effective singer. She is paired with tenor Price as the dashing Alfredo and baritone Fredericks as the fatherly Giorgio Germont.

This DVD may not have the most impressive and gorgeous scenery on the stage (many productions try to imitate Franco Zeffirelli's luxurious decor in his film version of La Traviata) - we see only simple elegance of tables, candelabrum, and chairs and small-scale interior settings. However, it is of little matter when you hear the fine acting and singing, well delivered and worked with love. To me, Beverly Sills reigns as the definition of Violetta, the ultimate Verdi soprano. Just listen to her soprano showcases in the finale to Act 1 - "E Strano" and the fireworks coloratura "Sempre Libera", her touching self-sacrifice in Act 2's extensive duet with Germont "Non Sapete" "Ditte A La Giovine", her farewell to Alfredo "Amami Alfredo", her despair in the final portions of Act 2 "Alfredo, Alfredo, di questo core" and all her delivery in Act 3- from the melancholia of "Addio Del Passato" to her death scene and exclamation "O gioia!".

This is the La Traviata to own and add to your collection of other Traviatas that have stayed with us for ages. Beverly Sills also sang La Traviata on a studio recording in 1974- her voice seems to be in better condition there, probably due to the lesser pressure of performing live. Beverly Sills is paired with the masterful tenor Nicolai Gedda as Alfredo and Rolando Panerai as Giorgio Germont. That recording is available on EMI and also on the book production label "Black Dog Opera Library" that specializes in operas contained in illustrated books that feature the libretto and historic biographical information.