A MAN optimistically stood at the door of Wexford Opera House on Saturday afternoon in the hope of snaring a return ticket for this year’s Short Work, the iconic ‘La Traviata’ by Giuseppe Verdi.
He politely asked people as they walked in if there was any chance of a return – I have no idea if he was successful in his endeavours but he is not the only hopeful person in the town as, on my last check, which was two months ago, there was a waiting list of over 70 people for the sold-out opera which runs for another three days.
The aim of Wexford Festival Opera’s Short Works season is to entice new audiences to opera, with shorter, less formal recitals of different works, many of them slightly more well-known than the three main operas.
If there was ever a Short Work to entice the uninitiated opera goer, it is ‘La Traviata’ with music that everyone knows, they just didn’t realise that they knew it.
The Jerome Hynes Theatre is sure to have recorded six packed houses for the performances of this much-loved opera, the final work of Verdi’s popular trilogy which also included ‘Rigolette’ and ‘Il Travatore’.
The Short Work performance strips the piece down to its bare bones. The stage is simple with just a suitcase, a chair and a multi-purpose table which, with the use of some clips and white elastic ribbon emphasises both the love shared by our two leads Violetta and Alfredo and the despair felt by Violetta when she must let him go.
The musical numbers are backed simply by piano, allowing each performers’ voice to be heard in its entirety and the emotion behind their words to be undeniable.
‘La Traviata’, set in mid-19th century Paris, tells the story of Violetta (Anna Jeruc-Kopec), a courtesan who after overcoming illness but still fearing her imminent demise, throws a lavish party where she learns that a young nobleman Alfredo (Daniel Szeili) has fallen in love with her. Although initially unsure about becoming trapped in a relationship, she is intrigued by his expressions of love for her.
Three months later, Violetta has swapped her city dwelling for life in the countryside with Alfredo learns that she has sold her property in order to support their new lifestyle. He sets off to Paris to procure more money, leaving Violetta to encounter Alfredo’s father Germont who asks her to end the relationship. He learns that her love for his son is pure and not, as he initially thought, an attempt to take his wealth, but still convinces her to drop the relationship saying there is no future in it due to differing social statuses. She leaves a farewell letter but Alfredo is inconsolable.
Later, at a masked ball, he confronts her and throws his gambling winnings at her. Violetta then, in a moment of respite and believing her pains are gone, revives before dying in her lover’s arms.
Anna Jeruc-Kopec is wonderful as the lead character Violetta, hitting the highest of high notes with pitch-perfect precision. Her rendition of ‘Dammi tu Forza o cielo’ could almost literally have lifted the roof were it not nailed down.
Opposite her, Daniel Szeili charms as the hopelessly devoted Alfredo who, even in his rejection of Violetta still exhibits a tenderness and love for her despite his hurt. He opens the opera with a performance of ‘Brindisi’, with great gusto and life.
The chemistry between the two leads is electrifying and as they sing their expressions of love for each other, the hair on the back of your neck tingles. Their relationship is emphasised, as aforementioned, through the strategic tying of elastic ribbons, which take the shape of a web, bridal decorations and finally a prison before Alfredo again frees her before her death.
In support, Jonny Sells is suitably foreboding as Germont , the patriarch seeking the best for his son but failing to see or accept his love for Violetta. Rachel Corash, Alex Cassidy, Leonel Pinheiro and Ashley Mercer make up the Ensemble who dip in and out of the piece with minor roles and act as an eerie chorus to the happenings of the opera.
T.S. Elliot wrote of the world ending ‘not with a bang but a whimper’ in ‘The Hollow Men’. This was what I thought of as Jeruc-Kopec breathed her last in the role of Violetta – the juxtaposition of both of these things, a tremendous high in the midst of the lowest low which left the audience rooted to their seats in suspense.
If this Short Work couldn’t encourage you to seek to see the full opera, nothing could.
