Mercury Opera Rochester - La Traviata Review

Mercury Opera Rochester - Professional Opera in Rochester

Expert Singers Make 'La Traviata' Magical

Anna Reguero, Staff Music Critic, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

It’s typical of smaller and regional opera companies to hire young talent in lead roles, usually for financial and logistical reasons – inexperienced singers don’t cost as much to hire, and sought-after professionals are usually booked far in advance. While Mercury Opera has gone this route with a number of productions – with performances ranging from excellent to mediocre, it didn’t place its bets on novices in its production of Verdi’s La Traviata. The production, directed by David Bartholomew and performed Friday at the Eastman Theatre, repeats today at 2 PM. Experienced singers turned out Mercury Opera’s best production yet, including Metropolitan Opera soprano Olga Makarina in the lead role of Violetta, and a rising talent and recent competition winner, baritone Scott Bearden as Giorgio Germont, Violetta’s lover’s father.

Makarina’s performance was laced with palpable drama. Her voluminous voice enraptured the audience, and she handled the stage with confidence and grace. Verdi’s music for Violetta leaps and drops in a dare devilish manner, which didn’t pose a threat to Makarina. Her Sempre libera aria, among others, twisted around the upper bounds of the voice effortlessly. Her voice was well-matched for duets with tenor Dinyar Vania in the role of Alfredo. While still a young singer, Vania turned out dramatic power and a ringing tenor voice in last year’s Tosca and similarly does so in this production. Keeping up with Makarina seems no small task, but Vania did with precision and flexibility. The two shared a tangible, passionate connection as star-crossed lovers.

But Bearden, with the bold presence of his voice and his detailed phrasing, vied with Vania for big applause and lavish praise. While Bearden’s character, Giorgio, can seem malicious, his dramatic moment – a startling slap to his son – buys him sympathy, making it easy to both love the character and Bearden’s voice without conflict.

The story of La Traviata – a courtesan who falls in love despite a deathly illness and family conflict – included a role fit for Makarina’s daughter Dina El, an aspiring opera singer in her first production. In the role of Flora, Violetta’s party-girl friend, El mastered the free-spirited attitude of a 19th century high society woman, but she has a dark, covered quality to her voice that was unable to cut through the orchestra. In comparison, her mother’s softest moments were fully audible. But it takes practice to sing over a full orchestra, and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra musicians make up a larger orchestra than most regional production are able to afford. Benton Hess, the conductor and artistic director, has a knack for keeping the orchestra tightly synchronized with the singers’ flexible timing – and there’s no doubt these are singers who should be given artistic and interpretive freedom.