Opera Review

A review by Vanessa Bunn for EXTRA! EXTRA!

The Merry Opera Company presents

La Traviata

Anna Jeruc- Kopec (Violetta) at centre with Joe Morgan (Alfredo) at her feet

Photo credit: Polly Hancock

Translated, adapted and directed by Kit Hesketh-Harvey

Music Director: Stephen Hose

Set Design: James Perkins

Costume Design: Fiona Russell

Lighting Design: Derek Carlyle

Upstairs at the Gatehouse

8 February - 3 March 2012

A shady East-London Burlesque club replaces the traditional Parisian court, and Violette (Anna Jeruć-Kopeć) is a sultry cabaret artiste instead of a courtesan. This is portable, relevant, exiting opera from the off. Kit Hesketh-Harvey has updated the libretto, making it accessible and fresh in an impressively unstrained way. The band is encased by naked mannequins with La Traviata signs for heads. The offbeat set is teamed with moody, sanguine lighting by Derek Carlyle, creating a dramatic tension which seeps through the show.

Violetta is romantically involved with a Baron (Marcin Gesla) (a title which lends itself easily to its contemporary setting) who owns the club in which she is the star. Then unwieldy city-boy Alfredo, or Al (Joe Morgan), visits said club and sings her off her feet. Anna Jeruć -Kopeć entrances as Violetta, exuding passion expressed through consistently impressive and sometimes brilliant vocals. Al does not manage to step out of the shadow of the brooding Baron, whose sensitive displays toward the close of action garner him more sympathy than perhaps they should.

Scenes involving the whole cast, a convenient assortment of burlesque performers and club regulars, pulsate with energy. Colourful, racy, inventive costumes by Fiona Russell delight. Oliver Brignall as Gaston is memorable, somehow embodying the intrigue and allure of the lifestyle which Violetta is immersed in as a performer, with a magnetic stage presence which makes you anticipate his next involvement.

Mere months after her escape to a life of domestic bliss with Al, times turn somewhat sour for Violetta, whose secret illness has been all but forgotten since the early scenes. In this tidy libretto, Violetta's closest confidante Flora (Gemma Morsley) is seen gathering up her burlesque costumes to sell to a vintage shop in an effort to raise funds for maintenance of her abode. Subtle turns like this are responsible for a genuine empathy building between Violetta and her audience. Should Flora gather the horses of the traditional script instead of clothes upstairs at the Gatehouse, all intimacy and sympathy might dissolve and Hesketh-Harvey's vision in this regard is commendable.

Following a highly charged meeting with her lover's father, Jerman (Stephen John Svanholm), during which he positions the future of his daughter as jeopardised by Violetta's involvement with his son, her departure is inevitable. Stephen John Svanholm displays some range as staunchly religious and domineering father at one turn and as central bull figure in a steamy Spanish-themed bash at the burlesque club moments later. The comic contrast here is part of a peppering of light-heartedness which finds traction amidst the tragic undercurrent.

The success of this racy revival pivots on the composure and skill of the musicians who keep their heads when all about them are losing theirs, doing absolute justice to Verdi's fantastically atmospheric and intensely moving score. Violetta's final struggle is carried off very well by Jeruć-Kopeć, who is visibly emotional and wholly consumed by her fate. If Joe Morgan's staid Al is not convincingly adoring, the usurped Baron and forlorn best friend Flora compensate with their enduring devotion.