Verdi’s La Traviata comes to Paphos castle
SHE IS marked by her sinful past and struck down by illness, she courts controversy and for many is a symbol of society’s hypocrisy. But this September, Paphos celebrates the story of Violetta Valery as she rises from the pages of the Alexandre Dumas novel and comes alive in Verdi’s best loved Opera, La Traviata.
In its seventh year, the Paphos Aphrodite festival is bringing Guiseppe Verdi’s masterpiece to our shores in the spectacular setting of Paphos harbour. The National Opera of Poland will perform alongside an international cast, including two Cypriots, baritone Kypros Patsalides and soprano Katerina Mina, who is making her operatic debut.
“I am so happy to have been given the part by Paphos Aphrodite as this is the first time I will be singing professionally here. Opera is blossoming in Cyprus and it’s thrilling to perform in La Traviata, as it’s one of Verdi’s best, both musically and dramatically,” Mina said.
Sourced from La Dame aux Cam?lias, a novel by Alexandre Dumas fils, La Traviata (The Fallen Woman) is set in 1850’s Paris. It tells the tale of wealthy courtesan Violetta Valery who is suffering from tuberculosis, the most common deadly disease in the 19th century. She is introduced to an admirer, Alfredo Germont, and they fall in love. Their love affair prompts Alfredo’s father, Giorgio, to beg Violetta to leave his son as the scandal is threatening the success of his daughter’s wedding. She does as he asks and leaves Alfredo to attend a party given by her friend and fellow courtesan, Flora. Alfredo then scorns her, believing she is in love with another man, but weeks later, he learns of her sacrifice for his father and rushes to her rooms to find her on the brink of death.
Katerina Mina will be playing the part of Flora Bervoix, Violetta’s best friend.
“Flora’s role is very important in the third act when she throws a party. Violetta has abandoned prostitution but is being threatened by Alfredo’s father to leave him. The party provides Violetta with the excuse to leave Paris and to leave Alfredo, which is a crucial part of the plot. The party also hosts the most dramatic scene in the opera, when Alfredo turns up and publicly denounces her,” Mina said.
When Verdi first performed the opera in the famous Teatro La Fenice in Venice in 1853, it was condemned for dealing with the subjects of free love and prostitution. However, it was loved by the public as Verdi always dealt with emotional extremes and served the mass public rather than the musical elite. In mid 19th century France sexual hypocrisy was widespread. Prostitution and gambling were rife at the same time as being publicly scorned. It was accepted that men may have mistresses whom they supported financially, as long as they didn’t fall in love with them.
As Violetta seems to hold the highest moral values in the story, Dumas seems to be arguing that a good heart is more important than social propriety although nowadays modern reviewers see La Traviata as a sentimental romantic tale that doesn’t shock anymore. Others read it as a morality play. Violetta finally risks falling in love and tries to abandon the world of prostitution but fate has stopped her from turning back.
Critics have interpreted the story in many different ways, but for Mina, any message you read into it is a personal one.
“I don’t think there is a specific message. For me, as Violetta was unwell, it carries the message that you should take life as it comes and live it to the full. This is also very important lesson for me as I have recently come out of a long illness. But the meaning of the opera itself – that’s about the beauty of seeing the drama unfold and the magic of the music.”
The music of La Traviata is filled with memorable harmonies, duets and choruses. While there are many interpretations of the story it is Verdi’s achingly beautiful harmonies and emotional sensitivity, which bring the opera to life. “Only then can we appreciate the sacrifice of a woman in love who tries to change her life, move to a planet of different values and believe that her chance for salvation has not been lost forever,” said the opera’s director Marek Weiss-Grzesi?ski.
He added, “How many stories remind us that there is no turning back? Are we then dealing with a morality play? Perhaps under the frivolous cover of a story about a courtesan Giuseppe Verdi hid his profound message?”
l La Traviata as part of the Paphos Aphrodite festival from September 2-4. Conductor and musical director Jacek Kaspszyk. English and Greek supertitles. Tickets £20-45 are available from the Paphos Head Office (Tel: 26 822218), Evresis Call Centre (Tel: 22 747171), Strovolos Municipal Theatre, Limassol’s Rialto Theatre, and the Larnaca Municipal Theatre.
