Geoff Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 Haven't seen the show (by the new ENO boss) but this review is not encouraging: http://seenandheard-international.com/2018/03/daniel-kramers-la-traviata-for-english-national-opera-disappoints/ The comments about diction suggest there may be something to the pessimistic theory I floated in the ENO Iolanthe thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 Oh dear..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 I was there on Friday. I enjoyed many things about the production (more than most of the critics seem to have done) but I'm afraid the casting was really misguided in two of the "big 3" roles. It was a real shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 3 hours ago, RuthE said: I was there on Friday. I enjoyed many things about the production (more than most of the critics seem to have done) but I'm afraid the casting was really misguided in two of the "big 3" roles. It was a real shame. And the production and concept, Ruth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 I liked that the first act was set in a brothel, and the way this was brought off. The same act did suffered from one of my pet peeves which is too much noise on stage (shouting, screaming and clattering about). I also liked the constant visual references to death and burial, though I thought the last act (done as a sort of ongoing nightmare sequence in which Violetta is digging her own grave) didn't seem to fit in with the style of the rest of the production. I've seen similar elsewhere and it doesn't inherently bother me as a concept. But ultimately I was preoccupied with the fact that I could barely hear the soprano, and when I could, she was singing flat. I would see this production again if it were revived with a much stronger cast. A friend of mine has recently finished singing Violetta in the same production in Basel, and I wish I'd seen that now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 Thanks RuthE. It is such a shame- once again it sounds as if ENO disappoint and I so much want them to succeed. But these comments are enough to stop me buying tickets. I feel I've been through this sort of thing once too often........ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 I also feel saddened. Like you, Mary, and many others, I'm sure, I was really rooting for ENO. It's almost as though, as was mooted during Cressida Pollock's tenure, the decisions taken by the powers that be are designed to ensure that the company will crash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 I went to their Midsummer Night's Dream last week and generally enjoyed myself, a slightly under-powered Oberon, but rest of the cast okay and a very good Bottom. I can't imagine I world without ENO, too terrible to contemplate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 What is the current situation with their wonderful chorus? Has it been substantially reduced? Will there be any more reductions, does anyone know, and will decisions of this type depend upon box office receipts, critics' reviews, anything else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanj2000 Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 MAB - we also went to Midsummer's Night Dream last week. Despite it being a modern opera, I actually thought it was good (I don't usually enjoy modern opera/ballet). My girlfriend, however, who usually likes everything, thought it was "the worst thing she has ever seen"! Her comment did surprise me, and made me laugh. Back on topic - I thought ticket prices for ENO's La Traviata were too expensive, and as we went to a splendid ROH production in 2017 or 2016, I didn't bother with ENO this time. However, we did go to ENO's Barber of Seville in October and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and we are going to Marriage of Figaro next month - I do hope that's going to be good. The point I am making (sorry for doing it in a roundabout way) is that I am trying to support both ENO and ROH, as I feel they both have a valuable place in London. However, like most people, I have limited funds, and so I do try to be a bit selective. Am I right - or confused and just plain wrong - that ENB are moving to Canning Town so won't be performing at The Coliseum any more? Won't that cause a big hole for ENO/Coliseum? Lastly, looking just now at what's on at The Coliseum, Swan Lake is on twice (2018 and 2019), and Manon is on in 2019. We are seeing both of these productions in the next few months at ROH performed by Royal Ballet; had these not been on at the ROH this year, we may have gone to ENO to watch the ENB productions, but I just can't afford (or want) to keep going to see the same productions - I want to see something different! Apologies for the long post. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 25, 2018 Author Share Posted March 25, 2018 The Sunday Times review today of this Traviata is headed "A monumental fiasco". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 Oh dear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 I've copied part of a post and removed responses to it here: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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