[Met Tour] CID:141730



La Traviata
Cyrus Northrop Memorial Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Fri, May 3, 1946




La Traviata (283)
Giuseppe Verdi | Francesco Maria Piave
Violetta
Eleanor Steber

Alfredo
Jan Peerce

Germont
Leonard Warren

Flora
Thelma Votipka

Gastone
Alessio De Paolis

Baron Douphol
George Cehanovsky

Marquis D'Obigny
John Baker

Dr. Grenvil
Lorenzo Alvary

Annina
Mona Paulee

Dance
Peggy Smithers

Dance
Marina Svetlova


Conductor
Cesare Sodero







Review 1:

Review in the Minneapolis Press

Eleanor Steber Shines in Verdi's "La Traviata"

Coming after a Wagner [first] night, a Verdi opera - even one ending in a deathbed scene - is like a scherzo after a long and slow first movement of a symphony. Italian fervor and agitation, salted with the quick and copious Italian tears, make a splendid antidote to the heavy moralities and long-enduring woes of "Tannhäuser."

Verdi's ":La Traviata" was the second offering of the Metropolitan Opera season at Northrop auditorium, and its performance last night had true Latin sparkle and eloquence. Cesare Sodero, short and brisk and aware of every note in the unrolling score, paced the production to a proper speed, drew forth the pathos without smothering it, and exerted a knowledgeable control throughout.

There were at least two triumphs - those of Eleanor Steber as Violetta and Leonard Warren as Germont pere. Steber was a remarkable heroine in practically all the aspects of the role - in imaginative acting far removed from the usual histrionic clichés, in loveliness of face and figure, in uncommon grace of movement, in singing that ranged from an invalid whisper to a full-throated and penetrating outcry.

It was a rare opera-going experience to witness singing and acting so well integrated in a role where each leans in complimentary relationship upon the other. And it was obvious that Steber had given more than the conventional study to those twin aspects of the part of the ailing and devoted Violetta, who relinquished pleasure for a love that was affirmed, and lost, at death's door.

Warren's portrayal of the elder Germont was one of great conviction and sympathy, resonant in tone, spacious in phrases, warm and paternal in manner. He garnered much of the second act's honors for his tender version of "Di Provenza il mar," and was obviously an audience favorite from the moment he stepped on the stage.

To the Alfredo role Jan Peerce brought his fine Italian style and full equipment as actor-singer, and though one occasionally wanted more flourish, a little more of the lordly male, in what he did there were few if any flaws in a performance definitely top rank.

Other roles fit in nicely and the two ensemble scenes offered well-timed and alert singing from the chorus. The ballet made a brief and fetching appearance in Act III, with Marina Svetlova particularly charming in a coquettish Spanish dance.



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