Operatic tenors are on a spectrum from Helden to wet, and the character Alfredo, in Verdi’s La Traviata, is firmly at the wetter end, particularly behind the ears. Although he is about the same age as Violetta, she is so much older; girls in her trade tend to grow up fast. Have you any idea of the organisation these parties require? Even if you get in caterers, they still need to be hired. 

It is good, then, in the revival of Alessandro Talevi’s production for Opera North, that Nico Darmanin nails that youthfulness, although we do see him grow up a bit as the opera unfolds. And his father, Giorgio Germont (Damiano Salerno), is too concerned about his son’s chances of a good marriage actually to listen to what Violetta is telling him; that he need not worry, as she will be dead shortly – why not let her last few months, weeks be happy? Surely we know the worry about the taint of a fallen woman – that is Elizabeth Bennett’s concern about Lydia after all – but for the Germont men, it is all about them.

Alison Langer is a very gentle Violetta, and one can imagine her settling down quite happily to the Provençal idyll Germont père rebukes his son for leaving. Matthew Haskins’ lighting bleaches all colour from her skin, making her authentically pale.

At times, conductor Jonathan Webb has the orchestra sounding as if it is playing far off, whether in time or space, which gives an air of nostalgia, as if heard in memory – and not just when the music is supposed to be next door. And I have never noticed before the ‘lub-dub’ rhythm in Violetta’s duet with Germont Dite alla giovine, sì bella e pura which seems to echo her heart-beat.

And yet there is fun too, at Flora’s party, where the gypsy dance is Carmen-themed; Madeleine Boyd’s costumes for the partygoers are in a later 19th century style than the mid-century of its premiere. Victoria Newlyn’s choreography has demi-mondaines and their multiple partners  languorously, sensuously intertwining on the large platform bed as a backdrop to Violetta’s anguished love. In the last Act, an audience of the men who exploited her are arranged, masked, as distant observers, applauding her death as if a performance; a reference, perhaps, to the opening of Dumas’ novel on which the opera is based, which recounts the sale of the dead courtesan’s effects.

Throughout, Amy J Payne’s Annina, Violetta’s maid, is there in the background, keeping Violetta’s life together as much as she can. Nicholas Butterfield is a swaggering, floppy-haired Marquis colluding with Victoria Sharp’s vivacious Flora in excess and James Cleverton’s Baron is restrained, but controlling. Doctor Grenvil’s bedside manner is sympathetic both to Violetta and Annina.

The denouement, when Germont and Alfredo arrive just in time, is well done. Just as, during the overture, Violetta rose from those surrounding her for the party tableau, at the end she rises from her bed to embrace her future, only to collapse.

Violetta, Germont père et fils, and conductor are double-cast.