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November 12, Friday, 6:30 PM
Music Director and Conductor Robertas Šervenikas
Director, Choreographer Chen Shi-Zheng (JAV | Kinija)
Set Designer Walt Spangler (JAV)
Costume Designer Elizabeth Caitlin Ward (JAV)
Lighting Designer Scott Zielinski (JAV)
Video Designer Leigh Haas (Vokietija | Didžioji Britanija)
Chorus Master Česlovas Radžiūnas
La Traviata (The Fallen Woman) is the eighteenth of Verdi’s operas and the first one to draw on the reality of the day. The opera premiered at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice, on 6th March 1853. After the spectacular success of Rigoletto and Il Trovatore, the reception of this opera came as a shock to the composer – it was an unmitigated fiasco. The failure was blamed on the poor staging and the miscasting of singers. “Is it my fault or that of the singers?” Verdi wrote in a letter. “Only time will tell.” The composer evidently sensed that the reasons for the failure had been more serious. The public must have got indignant at the choice of the protagonist – a downcast woman shown in the milieu, likewise corrupt.
A libretto by Francesco Maria Piave adapted from La Dame aux Camélias inspired Verdi to compose one of his most beautiful operas. Re-staged and performed at another Venetian opera house, San Benedetto, on 6 May 1854, La Traviata was a triumph. Alexandre Dumas couldn’t be more right when he said, “Fifty years later, my La Dame aux Camélias would have sunk into oblivion, but Verdi made it immortal.”
La Traviata was put on at the Lithuanian Opera and Ballet in 1920, 1931, 1952, 1974, 1980 and 1992; on 31 December 2005 and January 2006 we presented a production by the English National Opera. Traditionally showcased at each New Year’s Eve until 2002, this opera received the largest number of performances on our stage ever. Opera to be shown on 8 May 2009 will be the 739th performance of La Traviata at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre. |
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