Regina Opera presents Verdi’s `La Traviata’ as season finale
As part of the worldwide bicentennial tribute to Italy’s great composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), on Saturday June 8, the Regina Opera presented his masterpiece, “La Traviata,” for the finale of its 43rd season at its new theatre at Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH) on 60th Street and 6th Avenue in Sunset Park.
When the curtain opened and Maestro Scott Jackson Wiley’s baton brought forth the familiar strains of the prelude, the magic began. The title role of the courtesan Violetta Valery, based on Camille in “The Lady of the Camellias” by Alexandre Dumas fils, was sung and acted to perfection by soprano Andrea Bargabos. The drinking song “Libiamo,” sung with her eager young suitor, Alfredo, was a blend of bravura fireworks, with Ms. Bargabos revealing a creamy voice of great beauty, agility and power.
Her floating tones and portamentos of “Ah, fors’è lui” were astonishing, and Ms. Bargabos scored a triumph in a thrilling “Sempre Libera,” with ornamental phrasing and coloratura fireworks, and an electrifying high E-flat at the end! Ms. Bargabos’s ability to “swell” and diminish on a high note showed remarkable breath control.
In the second act, Ms. Bargabos’ defiance to the elder Germont’s insistence that she leave Alfredo to preserve the family honor, and her ultimate yielding to his request, was heartbreaking. Her “Alfredo, di questo core” in the third act gripped our hearts with an outpouring of anguish and vocal gold. Her “Addio del passato” in the final act and “Ah! Gran Dio!” and her sudden burst of life before her fatal collapse was riveting. Her letter scene was penned to last forever in memory. Ms. Bargabos was a Violetta for the ages!