La Traviata review – convincing young lovers strike sparks

Introduced at Glyndebourne in July, Tom Cairns’s production returns for the autumn tour, and with a new cast. In some respects it feels fresher and more involving than it did during the festival – partly, perhaps, because the young Violetta and Alfredo prove so convincing in their leading roles.

Russian soprano Irina Dubrovskaya sings Verdi’s self-sacrificing courtesan. Hers is an appealing voice, naturally fluent throughout the range and accurate in the trickier writing of the first act. Initially she feels small-scale, though she fleshes out the notes and the character with increasing command as the show progresses. She is well partnered by the American tenor Zach Borichevsky, whose tall, good-looking Alfredo is both touchingly gauche and impulsive, as required by the drama. Together they strike sparks off each other as two individuals instantly and completely attracted to one another.

Putting spokes into their romantic wheel is Russian baritone Roman Burdenko, credible as representing an older generation and delivering authentic bel canto vigour as Germont senior; his duet with Violetta in the second act is a real expressive highlight. But the larger-scale scenes go well, too, with the small roles all skilfully sketched in – notably Magdalena Molendowska’s Annina, clearly as much of an emotional confidante as a friend in this production.

Violetta is regularly seen – at the openings of Acts 1 and 2, for instance – lying at the side of the stage on what will prove to be her deathbed, yet rising to host the party that changes her fate and Alfredo’s. There is no heavy conceptualising, but narrative values are strong in this modern-dress staging, in which a fashionable world is astutely presented as a surround to the intimacy of Violetta’s personal existence. With the Glyndebourne Tour Orchestra in the pit, conductor David Afkham ensures impressive musical values and consistent forward momentum.