San Diego Opera: Verdi's "La Traviata"

Tuesday, April 20:  Renato Palumbo, SDO's famously absent Italian conductor on opening nioht, was, in fact present tonight to lead the orchestra in one of the most excitingly paced, thoughtfully nuanced and wonderfully dramatic Traviata's I have ever heard. Orchestrally, it was a revelation -- and everybody (chorus, principals etc.) on stage rose to the occasion, although the tenor, Marius Brenciu, was pretty sounding but blah and unidiomatic. Soprano Elizabeth Futral may not be the ideal Violetta, but she was moving and took some vocal risks that paid off. The ancient Conklin production (seen multiple times here and elsewhere) looked just fine, actually, as did the costumes. David Gregson.

See www.sandiego.com for an excellent review by Ken Herman

Continues: Friday, April 23 at 8 pm
Sunday, Apr 25 at 2 pm

Cast:
Violetta: Elizabeth Futral
Alfredo: Marius Brenciu
Germont: Alan Opie
Gaston: Joseph Hu
Marquis d’Obigny: Scott Sikon
Douphol: Nicolai Janitzky
Dr. Grenvil: Kristopher Irmiter

Conductor: Renato Palumbo
Director: Andrew Sinclair
Choreographer: Kristina Cobarrubia

The running time is approximately 3 hours, 5 minutes including three 20-minute intermissions.