La traviata (1976 TV Movie) User Reviews

Truly touching La Traviata

[AngelofMusic1998 · 8/10 · 5 May 2023]

La Traviata is among my favorite operas ever. This Wolf Trap festival production from Canada,though with some faults ,was touching. Sets and costumes are very well done. If I had to pick the weak link,ut would have to be Henry Price as Alfredo. He is vocally decent,but very bland in the acting department ,so he did not quite convince me as Alfredo,especially in Parigi O Cara. Richard Fredricks as Germont is stern,yet sympathetic .Beverly Sills as Violetta looks gorgeous,sings lovely and acts up a storm. Violetta is mostly how I judge if La Traviata is succesful and Sills succeeds in that task. Overall,very touching La Traviata .8/10.

Touching

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 4 July 2011]

I am a huge fan of Verdi and of La Traviata, and while not my favourite Traviata, this is still a very touching production. The sets are charming, the costumes are beautiful and the photography is excellent. Kirk Browning's direction is on the money too and the orchestra play very beautifully under the musical baton of Julius Ruedel.

The story still compels, the characters delight and the music entrances. The performances are equally as good. Henry Price is a vocally decent Alfredo but when it comes to the acting he is rather bland and probably the weakest of the cast. He does have his moments such as in Act 2, but his acting in the final scene didn't convince me. Beverly Sills though while not in her prime is stunning as Violetta, she acts touchingly, sings like an angel and she looks very beautiful too. Richard Fredericks makes for a truly excellent Germont, his Di Provenza is very musically sung and his interaction with Sills is one of the things that makes the production as touching as it is. Of the support cast, Fredda Rakusin is the standout as an energetic Flora.

Overall, touching and well performed. 8/10 Bethany Cox

A Touching, Beautiful Traviata Starring Beverly Sills American Opera Star

[FloatingOpera7 · 10/10 · 5 April 2006]

From a summer 1976 performance at Virginia's Wolf Trap Performing Arts Center, this is a moving, beautifully produced La Traviata, an opera which remains the darling of most opera houses. Beverly Sills had previously sung the hilarious "Daughter of the Regiment" only two years earlier and this Traviata was also performed around the time of her Deveraux performance in which she plays the aging Queen Elisabeth I. In a totally different performance, she is a youthful, touching Violetta Valery. She had sung the role numerous times before (in fact she holds the record as the soprano who sang Traviata the most number of times). Her 19th century French gowns are gorgeous, she exudes confidence, charm and shes' beautiful, even though she was a mature, experienced opera singer in her 50's. In '76 Sills had her long overdue debut at the Met and although her voice was not exactly as powerful and fresh as it was in the 60's, she was still in phenomenal vocal shape and she was blessed with the experience of her past performances and engagements with La Scala, Covent Garden and other major opera houses in Europe, as well as various American tours, in which she sang under the baton of the female conductor Sarah Caldwell, now deceased. Opposite Sill's elegant Violetta is tenor Henry Price as Alfredo. He is not the best Alfredo on stage. He's bland, a bit too feminine-looking) and he offers no real excitement when compared to the Alfredos of Pavarotti or Domingo. But he is paired well with Sills and he does a fine, fair performance overall. Richard Fredericks belts out the baritone arias of the elderly Germont with aplomb and he looks and acts the part with convincing realism. He is outstanding. Its' clear he has had experience in opera and he is in his element here. In minor parts are Fredda Rakusin as Violetta's friend Flora Bervoix, Robert Orth as Baron Duphol and Evelyn Petros as Violetta's maid Annina. Fredda Rakusin is not an attractive Flora (she's on the chubby side) but she is bubbly and enjoys playing the part. Robert Orth plays the Baron as a jealous older lover and this works great! I've never seen him played this way, as usually the Baron is a young "rival" to Alfredo. The production values are quite satisfactory, although not at the level of a Zefferelli film. Still, we get charming, Roccoco-style salons and beautiful 19th century costumes. Julius Rudel conducts with great musicality and this is a good performance overall.