He Stole the Show Again!

Saturday the 14th  was the final Live in HD Movie Theatre broadcast of Verdi's masterpiece La Traviata (She Who Hath Strayed).  Soprano Natalie Dessay sang the title role of the Parisian courtesan Violetta.  Tenor Matthew Polenzani was Violetta's lover, Alfredo Germont.  And baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky was Alfredo's father, Giorgio Germont (I'll explain more in just a bit).  


A brief summery of the plot: The courtesan Violetta knows that she doesn't have much time left.  She has had tuberculosis before, and can tell that she will get sick again.  She meets the handsome Alfredo at a party and the two fall in love.  They live together for three months in a country house.  Giorgio Germont, however, does not approve of the relationship due to Violetta's past as a courtesan.  So while Alfredo is off on an errand, M. Germont comes to the house and tells Violetta to end the relationship as it will put Alfredo's sister's engagement in jeopardy.  Violetta agrees and leaves.  Alfredo meets Violetta again at another party at her friend's house and denounces her in front of everybody.  M. Germont, feeling bad about what he's done and appalled at his son's behavior, scolds him for striking a woman.  Violetta gets sick with tuberculosis and is dying.  Alfredo and his father enter to ask her forgiveness and to leave with them, but Violetta's time is up.  She dies in the arms of here lover as the opera ends.  


What made this performance so interesting for me was Dmitri Hvorostovsky's performance as M. Germont.  He was playing a character who couldn't be younger than fifty-five years, and yet he still looked and sounded incredibly sexy.  He's the perfect M. Germont.  His costume was a simple black business suit due to Willie Decker updating the opera.  


I loved how he performed the role.  The scene where he tells Violetta to give up the relationship was moving.  M. Germont doesn't fully understand what's really going on which is why he seems to harsh on Violetta.  But his concern is legitimate and although it hurts her, Violetta seems to understand what he's talking about.  The scene where M. Germont rebukes his son for his harsh treatment of Violetta at her friend's party was the best scene in the opera.  While he knows he was the one who told Violetta to break it off, M. Germont will not tolerate his son's mistreatment of the woman.  I thought Dmitri performed that scene perfectly. 



He will be performing next season Live in HD as Renato in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball).  I hope he's hot in that one as he was in La Traviata.  Given what I've seen of him, the answer will be yes.