Verdi - La Traviata / Rudel, Sills, Price, Fredricks, Wolf Trap Festival (1976)

How can you possibly go wrong with this one? One of the most popular of all operas starring one of the most popular of all opera stars singing one of her true signature roles--it's a no-brainer. This 1976 performance from the Filene Center of Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia stars Beverly Sills in all her silky voiced glory. As Violetta, Verdi's most sympathetic tragic heroine, America's most beguiling diva is pitch-perfect all the way through several of the composer's miraculously melodic arias. Her lover, Alfredo, is played by Henry Price, who holds his own admirably with the superstar. Verdi specialist Julius Rudel conducts a finely detailed account of the score, and Tito Capobianco's production is an appropriate primer for novice opera fans--the vivid sets and costumes never detract from the central love story. Kirk Browning's straightforward video direction follows suit. --Kevin Filipski Amazon.com

Magnificent

Although the quality of this DVD is not the best - it is a remake of a VHS from the 70s - it is still fantastic. Beverly Sills is heavenly, and If she indeed was 50 at the time, she was still beautiful. Henry Price as Alfredo is amazing, his buttery voice just flows. Richard Fredricks is second to none. I have not seen or heard a better Germont.
One of the best Traviatas.
March 11, 2008

Fabulous

Beverly Sills is at her finest in this performance! And a fine supporting cast... May 7, 2007

This shouldn't be your only Traviata

I can understand the level of enthusiasm shown in some reviews here by diehard devotees of Beverly Sills, but let's face it, this Wolf Trap La Traviata is nowhere near being a 5-star production.

The expression "You had to be there" pretty much sums up this disc. Sitting out on a grassy hill on a beautiful summer evening taking in a pretty good performance of a favorite opera can be a fun and enthralling experience. You can admire the lovely costumes, and the wonderful sets borrowed from the San Diego Opera, reveling in seeing and hearing the still very youthful-looking and beautiful Beverly Sills, while overlooking the many problems and defects in the performance.

Essentially, this 1976 live Wolf Trap Traviata is at best a semi-professional job, with the assistance of some fairly talented amateurs. Sills herself has the Violetta role down pat, with all the appropriate acting, but her voice is getting pretty warbly. The other leads, while not incompetent, are definitely B-list as singers, and have no acting ability to speak of. The Filene Center Orchestra, led by Julius Rudel, turns in a very credible but not outstanding performance -- indeed, other than the sets and costumes, and to a large extent Sills, Rudel and his orchestra turn out to be the only aspects of this release that are worth putting up with. The chorus and dancing constantly display far more enthusiasm than skill, and there are miscues throughout.

Further, as some reviewers have pointed out, the filming has the same feel of having been done by small town semi-professionals -- it isn't bad, but there definitely are various kinds of glitches that are distracting. Also, the subtitles are burnt in and can't be switched off, and they occasionally lag behind the singing so that you're reading what the previous person had sung.

This would be an interesting addition to your library for fans of Beverly Sills, or perhaps for those who are simply looking for a passable La Traviata. The 1982 Zeffirelli movie, starring Teresa Stratas and Placido Domingo, with the Metropolitan Opera under the direction of James Levine, is in contrast a thoroughly professional performance which might even have been considered definitive had it not been nearly fatally flawed by Zeffirelli's extravagant ego and imagination running wild, and far worse, the inexcusable and inexplicable small liberties taken with the score. These are the only two Traviata DVDs I've so far had the opportunity to watch, but somewhere there must be a well done traditionally staged version out there.

Note that Amazon's description of this as being in black & white is wrong; it actually has quite good and vibrant color throughout.
December 13, 2006

Beverly Sills - Born May 25, 1929

Two different reviewers state Sills age as 50 here. Since this performance is from July 1976, simple math shows that she was 47, not 50. Sills is still quite wonderful here, the voice only slightly diminished - the rest of the cast is provincial at best. A nice memento of Sills live on stage, in one of her best Verdi roles.

December 21, 2004

A Gorgeous Traviata: Beverly Sills Triumphs

This performance was captured on film in 1976 as one of many in a series of operas made into film starting in 1974 with La Fille Du Regiment by Donizetti. Beverly Sills was a regular at the Wolf Trap Festival in Virginia, where she sang often at the Filene Center bringing with her conductor Julius Rudel. Rudel conducting La Traviata is a treasure to hear and Beverly Sills' touching and sublime performance of Violetta is remarkable. She is in her late 40's during this production, but she can still deliver and she looks youthful and vibrant despite the negative basher's reviews. Beverly Sills enjoyed enormous success as Violetta Valery and it was her first major starring role. In Act I, she gets into a festive mood for the party and her singing from the Brindisi to the duet Un Di Felice to her closing scene Sempre Libera is amazing. Her scene with Giorgio Germont, played and sung by bass baritone Richard Fredericks, is very moving. Their voices blend together perfectly as he is also a fine singer. She is self-sacrificing, noble and anguished. He is demanding, critical and fighting his own feelings. The chorus and dancing in the Act 2 Party are all great. The finale is moving, and Beverly Sills delivers the death finale with much acclaim.

The only weak link in this performance is Henry Price, who is an obscure tenor, singing Alfredo. He has the refinement called for the role, but he does not have the je ne sai quais, the dynamics and the bravado that is also needed for the role. Placido Domingo makes the best Alfredo and back at the New York City Opera he had performed Alfredo opposite Beverly Sills. Also, Nicolai Gedda, with whom Sills recorded Traviata, is quite exceptional. But Henry Price is singing too straight-forward without any real passion and does not develop his character and remains artificial and does not make for a satisfying Alfredo. Also, he looks feminine and does not have the machismo/masculinity that Domingo usually provides in his performances. The production is nothing extravagant or flashy. Zefferelli's operatic and film productions were lush and elaborate but in this case, for budget reasons perhaps, they made the scenery glossy but not overdone in luxury. The singing however is extraordinary. For fans of Beverly Sills, this is one of her other filmed performances to add to the collection. Others include her performance as Manon, which is an even greater role for her and one which Beverly Sills seems to be the most proud of and most fond of as well as La Fille Du Regiment as Marie and Sill's triumphant performance as Queen Elizabeth in Donizetti's Roberto Devereaux. Also on film is Sills as Rosina in Rossini's Barber of Seville at the Lincoln Center. August 9, 2004

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