Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer, 4 October 2012, and touring

ONE of the great unanswered questions of life is why do human beings start to go downhill when they reach fifty (well, some of us did!), whereas Scottish Opera at the same age is going from strength to strength and celebrating its golden anniversary by performing in 50 venues across Scotland and making sure there is easy access for over 90% of the nation’s population.

THOSE of us who remember those relatively basic productions of Madama Butterfly and Pelléas et Melisande back in June 1962 can scarcely believe the quantity, quality and variety that we get from our national opera company today.

Elin Pritchard as Violetta in Annilese Miskimmon's production for Scottish Opera (photo Mark Hamilton)

The touring production of La Traviata that reached the Spa Pavilion is Scottish Opera’s fifth version of Verdi’s tragic masterpiece and I’m sure it will remain in the company’s repertoire alongside Sir David McVicar’s splendid full stage production from 2008. Bringing the full set north from Glasgow would create a tailback on the A9, but everything for this show reaches the likes of Lerwick, Kirkwall or Stornoway packed in the back of a medium sized vehicle that still leaves space for the piano.

Making her Scottish Opera debut as director was the Belfast born Annilese Miskimmon, recently appointed Artistic Director for Danish National Opera, who along with her creative team of Nicky Shaw, Stasi Schaeffer, Mark Jonathan and Musical Director Susannah Wapshott came up with a carefully contrived concept in which only eight singers were able to portray the full spectrum from intimate encounters to hedonistic revelry.

The set was a simple three sides of a box of panelled walls with double doors at the back opening onto a backcloth that was changed to represent a crowded party, a sunny garden or a hospital corridor. Another neat touch was to hang the main tabs with the curtain tape facing outwards so that the audience seemed to be in the street looking in at the action through a window and was especially effective when back-lighting threw silhouettes onto the curtain.

When first performed in 1853, La Traviata was very much an opera of its own time. Courtesans were fallen women who lead a free and easy life, and while it was accepted that men would pay them attention, it was also a fact that a man who became seriously involved with a courtesan would bring dishonour on his family. Bringing the action forward about a hundred years to the 1950s was as far as Miskimmon could come before the age of free love in the Swinging Sixties removed the taboo that swamped Violetta and Alfredo.

Even so, despite Violetta paying all the bills to keep them together, it was necessary to provide Alfredo with some sort of an occupation – a member of the paparazzi with a leaning towards serious artistic photography – a necessity emphasised when Alfredo’s father Giorgio Germont turns out to be not a wealthy landowner but a presbyterian minister. Delightfully ironic when one considers the reaction of the kirk to the first Scottish performance of La Traviata in 1857.

The role of Violetta Valéry is huge for she is on stage for all but the briefest few moments. Until the 6th October performance the part is sung by Elin Pritchard, a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland who made her name as Anne Truelove in The Rake’s Progress for Scottish Opera earlier this year. Her strong soprano voice and physical stamina passed the Violetta test with an A*, especially in the famous Sempre libera at the end of Act I and in the emotionally explosive duet with Giorgio Germont in Act II.

For the early part of this tour, opposite Elin Pritchard is the Welsh tenor Robyn Lyn Evans as Alfredo Germont, seen in the north as Don José in the Carmen that Scottish Opera toured a couple of years ago. Appearing slightly geekish in glasses with heavy black frames, his charm, his determination and his splendid rendition of ‘Brindisi’, the drinking song, make it easy to understand why Violetta should renounce her freedom and return his love.

The third corner of this emotional triangle, Germont père, was played as a strict churchman by bass-baritone David Stephenson, successfully maintaining his aloofness, his condemnation of Violetta and his determination to divide the lovers even as he comes to understand that Violetta’s feelings for Alfredo are genuine. His Act II duet with Violetta is the crux of the whole opera as the forces of morality are confronted with the emotions of true love.

Two of the three Scottish Opera Emerging Artists were in the first part of the tour, with the third, Rónan Busfield, coming in for the second half. Katie Grosset filled the two parts of Flora and Annina, and Andrew McTaggart is one of Violetta’s set, the Marchese d’Obigny. Other parts were played and sung by Benjamin Bevan, Jorge Navarro-Colorado and Aidan Smith.

This production of La Traviata will be on the road again next spring for a few performances with a chamber orchestra, but for this autumn tour the music is provided by Susannah Wapshott brilliantly playing an upright piano as well as conducting the singers. There must be a reason for taking the upright around, despite its inferior voice, and it has been the custom in past tours. Perhaps it is that a grand piano takes up that bit more space, or maybe it is a wish to be consistent throughout. Even so, at those venues where a decent grand piano is available, it would be a bonus if it were used.

© James Munro, 2012

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