One of John Berry’s most significant achievements as artistic director of English National Opera came with his decision to invite the radical German director Peter Konwitschny to work with a UK company for the first time. A co-production with Oper Graz, where it was first seen in 2011, Konwitschny’s staging of Verdi’s La Traviata was taken into ENO’s repertory in 2013 and is now on its first revival. If anything, it’s sharper in its theatrical focus and refinement.
Performed without an interval and controversially cutting both repeats of arias and the divertissements at Flora’s party, the production pares the work down to its essence. The drama plays itself out in modern dress against a simple set of red drapes. Elizabeth Zharoff’s Violetta falls victim not only to codes of bourgeois respectability, but also to prurient cults of celebrity within the demi-monde, for whom Konwitschny, socially conscious as ever, reserves his greatest scorn. Anthony Michaels-Moore’s Germont drags his emotionally damaged daughter along to his confrontation with Violetta in order to increase his chances at moral blackmail. Ben Johnson’s Alfredo, meanwhile, is a gauche bookworm, whose passion is sincere but not always anchored in reality.
Zharoff, a fine actor and new to the production, takes time to settle. Silvery in tone and with a rapid vibrato, her voice doesn’t always move with the requisite agility in Act I. Thereafter, however, comes dramatic fire, beautifully sustained lines and exquisite pianissimos.
Michaels-Moore barks his music a bit as he hectors Violetta. Johnson, elegant yet intense, is impeccable. Conductor Roland Böer favours extreme speeds, but is admirably detailed and sensitive: the few moments of poor stage-pit co-ordination should even themselves out during the run.
• In rep until 13 March. Venue: Coliseum, London. For tickets, visit theguardianboxoffice.com
