Arts & Entertainment

Fleming is supurb in HGO's 'Traviata'

By Chris Brunt
The Daily Cougar

The "Year of the Diva" has reached its summit right now for the Houston Grand Opera, as one of the biggest names in the music world is up in lights on the Wortham Theater Center marquee.

George Hixson/Houston Grand Opera

At top billing is Renée Fleming, easily the most celebrated soprano in America -- the voice The New Yorker has described as "the most beautiful in the world."

Fleming has chosen to make our fair city the setting for her much anticipated performance of Violetta Valery in Giuseppe Verdiis La Traviata, which premiered Thursday.

Opening night at the Wortham was buzzing with expectations, nearly all of which were surpassed. La Traviata, besides being one of the most adored productions of opera-goers, is also one of the most challenging to perform, principally because of the virtuosity of the soprano role.

No corners were cut during HGOis preparation, as it successfully acquired more talent than Steinbrenner in a Yankees offseason. It all came together marvelously. This production rivals last winteris La Boheme for the finest show the company has had in many years.

Fleming, who will reprise her Violetta this fall at New York Cityis Metropolitan Opera, has a long-standing relationship with HGO and thus felt it appropriate to first perform the storied role in our city. She made her major operatic debut in Houston in 1988 and has since cultivated fruitful relationships with Houston Symphony Conductor Laureate Christoph Eschenbach, as well as HGO Music Director Patrick Summers, with whom she recently collaborated on the Grammy-winning album Bel Canto.

Summers led the orchestra Thursday night with remarkable control and an acute ability to compliment Flemingis style that no doubt stems from their experience together. The HGO orchestra is always well prepared, and its handling of the Verdi score was elegant and appropriately woven into the onstage performances.

The set and costume design was fulfilled by the legendary Desmond Heeley, winner of every important art design award ever and longtime luminary of the New York circuit. The costumes were impeccable, naturally, but the set was masterful. Heeley created three extravagant worlds for each act, and the richness this adds to the opera cannot be overvalued.

British tenor Paul Charles Clarke plays opposite Fleming as Alfredo Germont, the Parisian nobleman who is tragically lovestruck with Violetta. If his voice had a hue, it would be the warmest amber, and if his phrasing had a flaw, it would be that he didnit have enough phrases to sing.

Baritone Bruno Caproni sings Giorgio Germont, Alfredois quasi-villainous father. Caproniis voice bears a sonorous majesty so resonant that it threatens the fault-lines beneath Louisiana Street. (You didnit know about those, did you?)

And the star, the star, the star. In a press conference before the performance, Fleming commented that the role of Violetta is so daunting because it requires three distinct voices, one for each act. If I told you her reasoning, it could spoil your first <I>Traviata<P> experience, so just know that the hype surrounding the soprano is legitimate.

Her technical versatility defies modern physics, and the lush, expressive tones that come out of her mouth turn the opera house into a cathedral. When Fleming sings, death by beauty is blissfully near. Itis only unfortunate that The New Yorker drastically understated the divais eminence. "The most beautiful voice in the world?" Clearly.

This week, La Traviata will play Wednesday, Saturday and Tuesday, and it will also play May 2 and May 4. Visit www.houstongrandopera.org for more information on times and ticket prices.

La Traviata

Houston Grand Opera

Wortham Theater Center, Brown Theater, 510 Preston St.

The verdict: Verdiis masterpiece finally gets bravura treatment in Houston.

 Send comments to dcshobiz@mail.uh.edu