This posting must be prefaced by confessing that if someone held a gun to my head and demanded to know what my favorite opera was, after much waffling back and forth, I would probably have to confess that it would be Verdi’s LA TRAVIATA. It was music from this opera that first captivated me as a child of six and was the first recording I ever owned (with Albanese, Peerce and Merrill, conducted by Toscanini.)
That having been said, tonight’s performance of Verdi’s 1853 masterpiece puzzled me. There was so much about it that was wonderful, not the least of which were the stunning vocal performances and committed acting of soprano Brenda Rae and Michael Fabiano as “Violetta” and “Alfredo.” Read more →