La Traviata is being put on by the Seattle Opera, and was an absolutely enchanting show. It offers insight into the very boundaries of love, high-society, and forgiveness throughout its action-packed acts.
Mané Galoyant did an excellent job as Violetta, our lovestruck and heartbroken protagonist, capturing the complexities of falling in love, leaving the material and social world behind in order to experience that love, and having it all subsequently taken away. Her voice was angelic, hitting each note and leaving her voice and emotion imprinted upon the audience. The way she carried herself on stage was impeccable, portraying her disease and passion simultaneously in a beautifully somber manner.
Duke Kim as her love interest, Alfredo likewise did an amazing job, wooing and enchanting both the audience and Violetta, then transitioning into an unquenchable fury at love lost and betrayal. You could hear the emotional inflection within his strong voice, and the care he put into his performance was increasingly evident as the show went on.
Joo Won Kang did an incredible job as the villainous father of Alfredo, showing a man stuck in his ways attempting to care for his children but destroying the lives and draining the passion of those around him in order to do so. His voice was excellent, filled with a stern fury that really set the tone for the scenes that contained him.
The rest of the supporting cast was likewise excellent, their voices interweaving with the others and creating sweet symphonic sounds, living their high-society lives and getting caught up in the magical allure of the party scenes.
The set design was excellent, making the audience feel as though they were brought into the fancy parties themselves, with magnificent displays of movement and class in every act, dancing and singing and using the space of the stage to convey the points each singer was trying to convey.
The musical accompaniment was impeccable. Each act and song transition was accompanied by a precisely perfect musical sound, creating tension or enabling elation at the drop of the hat, always fitting the mood and highlighting the voices of the singers on stage. A truly stunning job by the orchestral department.
I would highly recommend this show to any fans of the opera, especially of this show itself. It was an excellent rendition, and I found myself unable to take my eyes off the stage below, wanting to take in every last second of the beauty, charm, love, and microcosm of life that was being played out before me. The show is in Italian, accompanied by excellent English subtitles.
La Traviata is Running at McCaw Hall (accessible by both link and bus) on May 14th, 17th, 19th, 20th, & 21st 2023. The performances are at 2:00 PM for the matinee showings and 7:30 PM for evening showings. It runs a little under 3 hours with a short intermission in the middle. English captions are included in the performance.