Last Updated on January 9, 2026
A fabulous revival of La traviata
5.0 out of 5.0 starsRichard Eyre’s landmark production of Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata has returned to The Royal Opera House. The opera’s themes encompass sex, death, grand passion, family honour and finally tragedy, and it marks the end of the vocal-led ‘Bel Canto’ period in opera, moving towards a greater depth of characterisation and narrative realism. The opera was adapted from Alexander Dumas the younger’s 1852 play, La Dame aux Camélias, with Verdi’s opera receiving its premiere in 1853 at Venice’s La Fenice opera house.
Both Western popular and high art culture have long fetishised the death of the talented and beautiful young woman: from Dido to Juliet, Marilyn Monroe to Ophelia, Jacqueline du Pré to Amy Winehouse. Grand opera is also littered with the bodies of mistreated heroines: Mimi, Cio-Cio San, Carmen, Gilda, Lucia, Tosca and Suor Angelica. La traviata is no exception to the rule, being based on the true story of Marie Duplessis. As a girl, Duplessis had been sold to a paedophile by her father when just 13. She ended up as one of France’s greatest ‘grandes horizontales’, with lovers including writers such as Dumas himself, the composer Franz Liszt and several aristocrats. The narrative of the opera traces the relationship of a beautiful courtesan called Violetta with a naïve, bourgeois young man of good family, called Alfredo, who has admired her from afar.
Director Richard Eyre has created a world of grandeur to frame the opera’s world. The opening party at Violetta’s salon sees her dressed in a stunning white crinoline covered with gold stars. Act 2 is set in Violetta’s country house outside Paris. With vertiginous duck-egg blue walls and with paintings scattered around, Bob Crowley’s set suggests both calm and impermanence, contrasting with the rich hues and opulence of Violetta’s Paris apartment.
The golds and reds of Act 2, Scene 2’s party at Flora’s house provide a gilded womb for the gambling, splendid dancing matadors and high passion that take place.
I had last seen Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho deliver a touching portrayal of dying singer Antonia in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann. I wasn’t prepared for the impact, quality and nuance of her Violetta, a role she has performed over 300 times. From the ethereal opening high strings where we see her sitting behind a gauze curtain, immobile and vulnerable, to the final act when she dies in Alfredo’s arms, this was a performance of profound intensity and beauty. Her voice has a silken delicacy but was never overwhelmed by the orchestra, and her control of the vocal dynamic is second to none, with stunning pianissimo whispers and each syllable weighted perfectly.
Star Italian tenor Giovanni Sala made his debut last night at the Royal Opera House as Alfredo. There was a tangible sympathy between him and Jaho that was both musical and dramatic. The two singers were in perfect sync in the gorgeous romantic duet Un dì, felice, eterea, with their rubato phrasing feeling natural and unforced. At the party at Violetta’s salon, Sala made light work of the famous drinking song waltz (known as a brindisi), Libiamo ne’ lieti calici, without over-egging the biscuit.
Alfredo’s stentorian father Giorgio was convincingly played by Russian baritone Aleksei Isaev. Driven by an old-fashioned sense of honour, he convinces the sickly Violetta to give up Alfredo as the immorality of their relationship is threatening to derail the engagement of his daughter. In the aria Pura siccome un angelo, Iddio mi diè una figlia he displayed a sensitivity and vocal agility not often heard in this role. Violetta finally relents with Jaho showing emotional and technical mastery in the duet Dite alla giovine, sì bella e pura.
La traviata is really about the three lead parts, but the smaller roles were solidly delivered. In particular, Cameroonian-Ugandan-American mezzo-soprano Veena Akama-Makia, returning from last year’s revival, bustled around effectively as the faithful servant Annina and Jette Parker Artist British bass-baritone Ossian Huskinson, recently a macho Cesare Angelotti in Tosca, made for a pleasingly discombobulated Marquis D’Obigny.
Conductor Antonello Manacorda handled the singers sensitively, balancing dynamics perfectly and allowing the singers’ rhythmic flexibility in the more rubato passages. The band played impeccably under his direction.
With the resources of the Royal Opera behind it, this production was Grand Opera at its finest. With Verdi’s melodies propelling the emotion with enough force to break down even the hardest of hearts, the grandeur of the sets and costumes and some terrific and dramatically intelligent singing all coalesced to create a fabulous evening of opera.
8 January–17 February 2026
Royal Ballet and Opera
Royal Opera House
Bow Street
London
WC2E 9DD
All photos are credited to The Royal Opera, ©2026 Pamela Raith
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