Soon, Welsh National Opera will be welcoming back to the stage one of opera’s most enduring and popular love stories, La traviata. In anticipation of its opening night in Cardiff we caught up with its revival director and long-time WNO colleague Sarah Crisp, to learn some more about the upcoming production.
This Autumn sees the return of WNO’s celebrated production of La traviata to the stage. As a director, how do you bring such a beloved production back to life and keep it fresh for new audiences?
I’ve worked on this production since it was first performed by WNO in 2009 and ever since I’ve kept an extremely detailed score of the opera, including notes from the original director Sir David McVicar’s directions and his reasons for them. As with any well-read book or much-loved film, there are always new layers to discover with each revival, and the new singers that come to perform with us help to keep the production fresh and exciting. In rehearsal, we work closely together to explore their own ideas about the characters and incorporate them into the existing staging. After five revivals, that's a lot of singers, so now my score is quite a thick book, and it certainly keeps me on my toes!
What is it about La traviata that keeps audiences coming back?
La traviata’s themes of love and loss are as relevant today as when the opera was first written, making the characters’ experiences relatable to a modern audience. Violetta makes a choice to risk everything in order to experience love and then has to make the even more difficult choice to give that love up because of the social pressures against her. And, of course, the music is amazing.
What can you tell us that’s particularly interesting about this staging of the opera?
There are a number of features that make for an intricate and engaging staging and a lot of symbolism in foreshadowing the opera’s conclusion. Firstly, if you look closely, you’ll see there are words engraved on the floor – the whole production is staged on top of Violetta’s gravestone. Later, in Act Two Scene One the narrative moves very quickly between three different spaces in Violetta and Alfredo's countryside retreat. This is achieved by screening one side of the stage with drapes while the action takes place on the other side, a very fast scene change, and the occasional glimpse of someone's foot!
What do you enjoy most about coming back to WNO for this particular production?
La traviata with its incredible costumes is very visually beautiful, so it’s a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. It’s great to come back to WNO as I have had a working relationship with the Company for over 20 years and so many of the people there are friends as well as work colleagues. We have a shared history and a relationship built on memories and many laughs. It’s an amazing thing to be greeted so warmly in the workplace and it’s an experience I always treasure.
To experience this award-winning production of La traviata, don’t miss performances in Cardiff, Llandudno, Bristol, Plymouth, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and Southampton from 28 September to 24 November 2023.