(More information linked far below)

Went to see La Traviata at the MET tonight. Beautiful show ... was over all quite happy with my experience, even though the rush tickets sold out and I had to settle for $24.50 standing room only tickets, way in the back of the orchestra (that's the bottom floor). The view from orchestra standing room isn't bad at all though, the actual orchestra is a bit soft but the singers can be heard as clear as day, and what singers! Maria Poplavskaya sang Violetta and did such a beautiful job.

(Note about review, I didn't take notes, so my memory might misplace some events, or completely omit others, my first time watching this opera, second note is this is my first attempt at an opera review)

La Traviata is the opera by Giuseppe Verdi, written in 1853, based on the story of Alexandre Dumas fils (the son of the Three Muskateers' author), Lady of the Camellias. It's about a French courtesan, Violetta Valéry who, at the start, is partying her life away, (in the first act, she is presented as having just recovered somewhat from a chronic illness) and her greatest admirer, the upper class Alfredo Germont.

Super Quick Synopsis

ACT I: Violetta Valéry arrives on stage, followed by revelers. They revel, while Violetta and Alfredo Germont argue over 'life of pleasure' vs. 'life of love'. Violetta is on the side of pleasure, Alfredo, who direly loves Violetta, wants love. Revelers leave, Alfredo pleads with Violetta to come away with him. She hands him a camellia and tells him to return when it has faded. She sings a solo aria (very beautiful!), after which she hears his voice off stage, pleading to her (like in a dream), she breaks, and agrees to go. /End of Act

ACT II: 3 years later, they are in a country estate, enjoying life together. To afford their life, Violetta secretly begins selling off her property. Alfredo finds out form Violetta's maid and leaves to rectify the situation. Enter Giorgio Germont, father of Alfredo. He explains that his son's relationship with Violetta is bringing great scandal to their family, and threatening his daughter's marriage to a wealthy gentleman. He begs her to leave, she eventually agrees. Alfredo returns, and is shocked to find out that Violetta has left him (she doesn't tell him why). He argues with his father, who tries to persuade him to return home, which is against his wish to follow Violetta. /End of Act

ACT III: The revelers return, Alfredo is there. They have already heard the gossip about the break up and mock him. Violetta joins the party with her old flame the Baron Douphol. Alfredo and the Baron have a gaming match in which Alfredo wins a lot of money. After, Alfredo begs Violetta to come back to him, she refuses, saying she never will. He then calls her out in front of the revelers, throwing the cash he just won at her, as a means of paying her back for the property she was selling so he can say "I owe her nothing!". His father enters, admonishing the way he just treated her. Later, Violetta is alone with her maid, we find out she's dying. Before she dies, Alfredo and Giorgio return, they make peace, essentially, and then she dies. /End of Opera

Positive - Brand new MET production ... granted I have nothing to compare it to at this point, only production I've ever seen.

Positives:

Singing and playin -. I mean, it's MET Opera, it's as good as it gets. The singers were all fabulous. Violetta's aria in the first act is tremendous. It was at that point I felt that my 24.50$ spent was worth the price of admission, and I hadn't even scene the 2nd act.

Costuming - No corsets or stuffy 19th century costumes at all. Violetta enters the stage at the beginning in a bright red dress that ends just below the knee, and wearing high heels to boot. Very sexy actually. The revelers are in tuxes. In the 2nd act ... more on that in second.

The Opening - You walk into the hall. There's no curtain, the stage is lit. It's a minimalist stage set, the only prop is a large clock that leans against the wall on the left side. There's a bench that runs along the wall encircling the stage. At the end of the bench a man sits, extremely still. I thought it was a mannequin for 20 minutes. Then you find your seat (or standing position) and start fingering through the playbill. When Violetta enters, stumbling, drunk, with that vibrant dress on, you know you're in for an interesting show. The opening party scene is quite the affair as well.

2nd Act - This is the gem of this whole production. Absolute perfection. At the start, Violetta and Alfredo are dressed in long robes, underneath which is just their small clothes, (a night gown for the lady and boxers and shirt for the man.) They play hide and seek, they kiss and cuddle a bit on the couch. Talk about sexy! The audience laughed several times during this honeymoon scene. Probably my favorite scene.

The scene where father and son argue is also a tremendous success. The feelings of the audience here are so twisted around. You feel for Alfredo, but you also understand Giorgio's sentiments, and of course there's a whole very anxious father/son vibe. This scene is touching on so many levels. The climax sent a shudder through the audience that was palpable.

Violetta's arias - I mentioned above that the first aria made the whole thing worth it. I'm just reiterating.

The characters - Violetta is the star of the opera, but I shouldn't take away from the other performers. It's all outstanding. I love Giorgio too, he is the main bass voice in the opera. and while technically, he is the 'villian', his character is so much deeper than that. Part of the strength of this opera as a whole is the 3-dimensional characters. There's no villain really, you have the courtesan, Violetta, overcoming her checkered past to fall in love with a high society man. Alfredo who gets torn by cross currents created by society, his father, and Violetta's guilt, and Giorgio, torn by the love of his son and the love of his daughter. For a stage work the character development is immensely effective I think.

Negatives

End of 3rd Act: It went on a touch too long for me. We hit Violetta's climatic aria. I thought she died right then and there and the opera was over, but it keeps going. I feel like, structurally, there were two more sections that took place, it could've been condensed into a single final section after the aria. I suppose I can't write Verdi a letter and let him know how I feel though.

Unnecessary symbolism: I mention at the beginning, (this is probably specific to this production), that there is a man sitting on the stage as you enter the hall. And he stays there till shortly into the beginning of opera. He was used throughout as some sort of symbol. I think they brought him up as an additional 'hey guys, this opera is a tragedy, she's going to die' symbol, a 'cruel fate' if you will. It wasn't necessary at all. In fact, I thought it messed with what was going on on stage sometimes. The clock also played a symbol, but not nearly as obfuscating as the man.

Ultimately this is a great opera to see. Very well worth it, whatever price you choose to pay. There are 5 shows left, all in January. The 15th is next. For those not in the NYC area they do do Live MET HD broadcasts at theatres all over the place. I don't know if this is on the bill in the near future. I do know Nixon in China is on the bill.

This ends the review, I'll give some additional notes about purchasing tickets and the standing room experience below. Did you enjoy this review?



Purchasing info/experience ...

First off, for rush tickets, you have to get there really early. They start 2 hours before curtain, but I'd plan on being there 2.5 hours before curtain if you really want a chance. They sold out 15 minutes after 6, I was still 30 people back in line. I had arrived at about 5:55.

Subsequently I went with the next option, standing room only in the orhestra. It's 24$. The positives, you get a rail to lean on while you watch, it's not completely exhausting. You also get your own subtitle screen in the rail. Every seat and standing spot has one, just push a button and blamo, subtitles. I think they have them in English, Spanish, French, Chinese probably ...

It's a little annoying to look down from the stage and back up at the stage. But you don't do it constantly (they repeat a lot of things in opera, and the subtitles never came up for repeated verbage).

The other problem with standing room is your in the back. The ushers move around occasionally during the acts, which was distracting at the start of the first act. People who leave early also pass through, and the air tended to blow in every time the door opened. Most of this is easy to ignore though. They lock you in, they actually have a strap that they pull across the aisles so you can't get out, ha ha. They don't want standing room people to nab the abandoned 90$ and up orchestra seats just ahead of them I take it, not that there were any to nab tonight. It was almost entirely sold out.

As far as other options. There's standing room on the very top for 19$. I wouldn't buy it if someone put a gun to my head. For 5$ more you're probably 100 feet closer to the stage. Family circle seats are ok. I saw ballet (Lady of the Camellias interestingly enough) form the family circle once, the sound is good, but don't hesitate to bring a pair of binoculars, you are quite a distance from the stage up there.

Oh, most important thing if you intend to attend the opera. DON'T BE LATE. They threatened to arrest one lady who was trying to hold the door open as the 2nd act was getting underway, (she was holding it for someone who was in the bathroom.) They are serious when they say no one gets in after the show/act starts.