A Night at the Opera

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We’re off to the Opera – in Corby. Now there’s a sentence, I didn’t think I’d ever write! 😀

We’re here at the excellent Savoy Cinema in nearby, Corby for the livestream of the RBO‘s latest production of Verdi’s La traviata (translates to “The Fallen Woman”). Don’t worry, it’s not a Health & Safety theme! The last time we were here with our cultural heads on, was with Sue J and friends, to see The Nutcracker last December.

Official Synopsis

At one of her lavish parties, celebrated Parisian courtesan Violetta is introduced to Alfredo Germont. The two fall madly in love, and though hesitant to leave behind her life of luxury and freedom, Violetta follows her heart. But the young couple’s happiness is short-lived, as the harsh realities of life soon come knocking!

A more detailed background to the Opera is HERE, but in short, it follows the operatic tradition of ultimately, the death of one of the leads! I’ve seen quite a few Operas in my time, and the endings can be somewhat depressing – and this one continues that tradition! Don’t see this one if you need cheering up and take some tissues!! 😕😟☹️😢😭

Err, Happy New Year! 😉

Ironically, these days, it’s one of the more popular Operas to go and see and a good one to cut your teeth on if you’re new to the whole Opera scene. In Verdi‘s lifetime, it was his most frequently performed work (even though the premiere on 6th March 1853, was not well-received by the audience). He wrote quite a few masterpieces in his time, and you can see a full list HERE.

OK, seeing it at the cinema is maybe not as good as experiencing it live from its ‘home’ at the Royal Opera House – you just can’t beat the ‘live’ experience, but consider this…

…watching on the big screen at your local cinema! No need to get the train all the way to London/the cinema seats are more comfortable/you experience a much better view of the performance (including close-ups throughout of the cast), and the drinks are much better value. Best of all, the tickets are far cheaper! 👍👍

What did we think? 🤔

A great performance! Very ‘opera-ey’ (in a good way!) The voices of the three leads, ‘Alfredo‘ (Giovanni Sala), ‘Georgio’ (Aleksei Isaev) and of course, ‘Violetta‘ (Ermonela Jaho) were all amazing! If you know the story, you’ll already know that ‘Violetta’ is in pretty much all the scenes, and as a result, it asks a lot from the person playing that role. Maybe the frequent closeups helped, but we were able to appreciate even more, the skills involved in performing in an Opera! Not only the singing, but the acting too! (and I’ve never really thought about the acting side of an Opera before). Good to know that Ermonela Jaho has played this part around 300 times during her career – that’s a good great track record!! 👍

The final Act is as scripted, 100% misery, as Violetta ‘croaks it’ in the end, but not after the most emotional (and longest!) ‘death scene’ I think I ever seen – at around 30 minutes. The acting closeups showed that the performer really looked like she was in pain, but was singing pretty much for the whole time! Impressive stuff, and it helped me appreciate Opera, as an art form, in a slightly different light.

Overall, maybe the super-comfy (fully reclining) seats and the pin-sharp picture helped, but ultimately, it was a great experience. Any disappointments? Maybe the audio could have been piped through more of the (numerous) speakers, but what we heard from the front was crystal clear.

It’s a performance in three Acts and even though the running time was just over 3 hours (two intervals and a brief pause for a scene change) it didn’t feel that long! The scenery, the costumes, the singing, and of course the acting was, all-in-all, a typical RBO production with everyone at the top of their game. In short ‘Wow!’

Cast

10.45pm: Home and a late one for us, these days! I think I’m really getting into this ‘Opera Thing’, but I’m pretty sure that part of it is down to seeing it on the big screen, sitting in comfy seats and NOT having to travel far to enjoy the experience! 👍. Roll on the next one!