Albanian Soprano Ermonela Jaho shows what all the fuss is about in Sydney
Sudney, Australia – HARDLY anyone had heard of Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho when she replaced a sick diva at short notice in a Covent Garden production of La Traviata just over eight years ago. Now she’s an unstoppable phenomenon, a diminutive powerhouse of vocal strength, nuanced expression and an unmatched delicacy of control.
Those attributes, together with her ability to portray Verdi’s doomed heroine, Violetta, with cutting sincerity, earned her a near-total standing ovation on the opening night of Opera Australia’s opulent and satisfying revival of this treasured opera.
SHOWSTOPPER
Verdi wrote this work in about two months, having seen the play on which it is based, La Dame aux Camellias, in Paris in 1852, a year or so earlier. With Verdi at the time was his mistress, opera singer Giuseppina Strepponi — a relationship echoed in Act II when Alfredo’s father expresses his disapproval of his relationship with the notorious courtesan. The real-life lovers married in 1859.
This stirring revival of a 1994 production features a stellar cast, stunning sets, imaginative costuming and, not least, some of Verdi’s most appealing music, showstopper after showstopper ringing out as the drama proceeds to its tragic conclusion.
As Violetta, the consumptive courtesan who abandons a dissolute life to live with Alfredo, Jaho was a delight, with a delicacy and control the like of which we see so rarely. It was also an intense performance, such was the degree to which she absorbed the role.
Jose Carbo demonstrated once again why he remains one of our best baritones, if not the best.
She put her stamp on the production at the start, with a spirited rendition of the drinking song, Libiamo ne’ lieti calici (”Drink from the joyful cup”).
South Korean performer Ho-Yoon Chung made a likeable if slightly detached Alfredo but his effortless tenor blended easily with Jaho’s voice.
Jose Carbo, as Alfredo’s patrician father, demonstrated once again why he remains one of our best baritones, if not the best. His heartfelt appeal to Jaho to spare his daughter’s reputation by abandoning Alfredo, Pura siccome un angelo Iddio mi diè una figlia (”Pure as an angel, God gave me a daughter”) was one of the highlights of Act 2.
Mezzo-soprano Dominica Matthews, as Flora, and bass-baritone Adrian Tamburini, as Violetta’s protector, Baron Douphol, provided solid support, as did Samuel Dundas as Flora’s lover, Marquis d’Óbigny.
Designer Michael Yeargan’s lavishly busy set was a delight, as it indeed it was when this production first aired in 1994.
Once again, the chorus was simply outstanding.
This was such a feel-good production. It deserves a place on your list of must-see shows, with the added bonus of seeing and hearing one of the world’s most popular sopranos.
DETAILS
● OPERA: La Traviata
● STARS: Ermonela Jaho, Ho-Yoon Chung, Jose Carbo, Dominica Matthews
● AT: Sydney Opera House
● UNTIL: April 1
● BOOKINGS: www.sydneyoperahouse.com. Tel: 9250 7777
