La Traviata
Royal Opera House, in rep until 24 May; and with cast change 8 July to 17 July
This year, when operatic fare in the UK has become sparser and less adventurous than at any time since I remember, it’s no surprise that the old stand-bys should be wheeled out regularly. Top scorer in 2010, without question, has been La Bohème, with productions ranging from the brilliantly resourceful minimalism of The Cock in Kilburn, which has been running nightly since early December, to the elaborate squalors of the Royal Opera’s quarter-century-old production, which improves with every advance into decrepitude; with many other versions in between.
Some way behind, no doubt thanks partly to the taxing nature of the title role, is La Traviata, though the Royal Opera is loyal enough never to let a season go by without reviving it, and this season there are two runs, with different casts.
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