Soprano wins, breaks hearts in Central City’s ‘Traviata’

CENTRAL CITY — In the pantheon of iconic operatic characters, Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata” (“The Fallen Woman”), Violetta Valery, occupies the top tier. Everything about the character — her contradictions, her depth of devotion, her fragile happiness, her shattering and inevitable death — is designed to make her as compelling as possible. Does it matter that she is, essentially, a high-priced prostitute? Do we even need to know that to be overwhelmed by her? Do we need to know that her story lies behind modern cinematic tales as diverse as “Pretty Woman” and “Love Story?”

Ultimately, when watching the 1853 masterpiece, one of the most perfect operas ever composed, the only thing that actually matters is that the music Verdi gives Violetta makes it impossible not to adore her. She certainly has a fine literary pedigree — librettist Francesco Maria Piave adapted her from “The Lady of the Camellias” by Alexandre Dumas, fils — but her operatic incarnation is immortal.

On Saturday, opening night for the Central City Opera summer season, soprano Ellie Dehn took the stage in the jewel box theater at 8,500 feet and delivered one of CCO’s most extraordinary performances in recent years. Almost from the moment the curtain rose, Dehn’s physical and vocal presence gripped the audience. The brief first act saw her run a gauntlet of emotion and mental conflict that made everybody understand why young Alfredo Germont falls in love so quickly with Violetta.

It is obviously one of the most prized and demanding of all female roles. She gets a verse in the “Brindisi” (“Drinking Song”), a melody that almost defines opera. She gets glorious duets. She gets a tour de force double aria with the stage to herself at the end of Act I. She gets to wear magnificent gowns. And she gets the quintessential operatic death scene, whose echoes ring through Puccini’s Mimi in “La Bohème” all the way to Ali McGraw “never having to say you’re sorry” to Ryan O’Neil.

And for a soprano to get all that, she had better be spectacular. Dehn basks in her character’s radiance, nowhere more movingly than the moment she sings her own title of “Traviata” in a deathbed prayer.

Tenor Ryan MacPherson is a vulnerable and dashing Alfredo. It is he who opens the famous “Brindisi,” and his double aria, while not as grand as Violetta’s, still packs a punch. MacPherson’s ardent singing easily matched Dehn in the great Act I duet.

Central City veteran baritone Troy Cook is Alfredo’s father Giorgio Germont. Verdi was always generous to baritones, and even though the character’s role in Violetta’s tragedy could make him very unsympathetic, the composer had his back and gave him the splendid aria “Di provenza il mar,” which almost redeems him on its own. Cook plays the role fairly straight, but effectively so, and always sings with authority, no more so than when Germont chastises Alfredo for publicly humiliating Violetta (whose selfless sacrifice is known only to the father)

Although “La Traviata” has only three major roles, the secondary characters are colorful enough to provide wonderful opportunities for the apprentice and studio artists in CCO’s excellent training program. They play all these parts except the more pivotal Doctor Grenvil (bass Adelmo Guidarelli).

Among the apprentice artists, bass Andy Berry stands out as Baron Douphol, Alfredo’s false rival, as do mezzo-soprano Molly Jane Hill as Flora Bervoix and soprano Jin-Xiang Yu as Violetta’s faithful maid Anina. Tenor Billy Bruley as Gastone and baritone Nicholas Ward as Marquis D’Obigny round out the supporting cast.

That group, along with a superb chorus, is vital for the success of the two party scenes, especially the high drama in the one that closes Act II.

Director Elise Sandell, opting for a traditional mid-19th century setting, rightly places all the focus on Dehn. The beautiful, elaborate sets for the party scenes, the more simple domestic scene where Alfredo and Violetta are briefly happy, and the stark bedroom of the death scene are all designed to provide the best possible frame for the soprano.

CCO music director John Baril, always superb in the pit, again leads a polished, professional orchestra through a sensitive reading of the score. Baril knows what the singers need and consistently provides it.