Opera and foliage

Opera in Boston is like peak foliage: it lasts about a week and then it's over. Sometimes it is spectacular, sometimes less so, but you can't control what you will see. You have to take what comes your way and look for the beauty in it.

Boston Lyric Opera mounts three or four productions a year, with five or so performances each. The company is currently performing Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata (the fallen woman). The story centers around Violetta, a terminally consumptive courtesan who gives her heart to Alfredo, a young admirer. Germont, Alfredo's father, demands the end of the romance to save the honor of his family. Violetta's moment of true love is all too brief, like her own life. She will be dead by the end of Act Three.

The overall quality of Wednesday's performance was quite good, a straightforward telling of the story, for the most part uncluttered by misguided directorial concepts. There was a moment of perhaps unintended irony in the third scene: a chorus of debauchers stands aghast when the forsaken Alfredo flings a pile of money at Violetta. "What's wrong with you? How could you do that?"

Anya Matanovic, in her BLO debut, won the audience over as Violetta. Her rich tone never obscured the words she was singing; she savored the text and found nuances that were clear without the surtitles. She didn't go for the optional high note near the end of the first scene, but if any soprano in any opera  sang as well as she did, the art form would be in an enviable state.

Michael Wade Lee, also in his company debut, has all the makings of an Italianate tenor: robust sound, easy high notes, unforced emotional instincts. He's still unpolished, though, and there were quite a few wayward pitches. Nevertheless, I liked his Alfredo. He was a refreshing change from the usual Boston fare of straining tenors with unpleasant tone.

Baritone Weston Hurt was a more than satisfactory Germont. He had a secure voice that, again, you could only hope for on any given night at the opera. Germont in this production was a military commander who had lost an arm in some past battle. The singer couldn't rely on stock arm gestures [read bad operatic acting] with one sleeve pinned to his shoulder, but he hadn't yet developed other means of bringing his character to life.

Conductor Arthur Fagen led a good pace and kept steady control between the pit and stage. The orchestra showed some rumbling power in the bass drum and timpani, but the violins had trouble playing in tune with each other. The chorus and secondary singers were commendable, although some voices came across as unnaturally amplified. If Boston had an ongoing, continuous season, this production of La traviata would be considered a fine night at the opera, and the rough edges would yield to more refinement. For now, audiences have to be content with seeing the occasional display and hoping for the spectacular.