Giuseppe Verdi: La Traviata

Our La Traviata in January will be the glamorous, spectacular production this wonderful opera deserves.  Mark your calendars now for Friday, January 15 at 8 PM and Sunday, January 17 at 2 PM. 

Our production brings some new faces to Rochester along with some returning favorites.  Conducted by Artistic Director Benton Hess, David Bartholomew, who directed our Tosca, will return to direct La Traviata.  Metropolitan opera star Olga Makarina will be making her debut with Mercury Opera as Violetta. We are fortunate that Dinyar Vania will return as Alfredo, following his impressive debut here in Tosca. 

About our upcoming Traviata, Director David Bartholomew said, “The opera is so honest that you just let it live and it takes its own course.”  He added, “Violetta is like a flower in May that blossoms, wilts, and dies, but never loses its fragrance.”  Bartholomew plans an intensely romantic production.  “After all, it’s the story of Camille, and who could ever forget Greta Garbo!”

Benton Hess is thrilled that Mercury Opera was fortunate to engage Olga Makarina as Violetta.  Says Maestro Hess, “Verdi was just beginning to come into his own with Traviata.  All the operas before it were pretty much based on the tried and true Donizetti formulas, but with this opera Verdi began to experiment with ideas of his own, albeit with a bel canto sensitivity.”  He adds, “In Olga Makarina, Mercury Opera has a world-famous bel canto specialist, acclaimed for her portrayals in Lucia, Norma, and Il Pirata (at the Metropolitan Opera double cast with Renée Fleming) as well as her interpretation of Violetta.  This will be a Traviata to remember and cherish.”

A native of Russia, Olga Makarina (Violetta) made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2002, where she has sung leading roles in Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, Il Pirata, La Juive, I Puritani, and Ariadne auf Naxos.  She has performed roles in Don Giovanni, La Traviata, L’Elisir d’Amore, Otello, Carmen, and La Bohème, in opera houses from London to Tokyo.  She is praised for her silvery voice, precise vocal control and glittering coloratura. Audiences also love her stage presence and her enthralling emotional expressiveness.  Ms. Makarina has won numerous competitions, including the Metropolitan National Council Auditions and Leiderkranz Competition, and she records on the Romeo Label.

The role of Alfredo will be sung by Dinyar Vania, whose passionate and moving portrayal of Cavadossi in Tosca in January enchanted Rochester audiences.  Mr. Vania has a rich lyric voice of astonishing power and beauty.  He has performed leading roles in La Bohème, Lucia di Lammermoor, Tosca, Lysistrata, Madama Butterfly, and La Traviata at companies including New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Syracuse Opera, Knoxville Opera, Madison Opera, and Sacramento Opera.

Recent Irene Dalis Vocal Competition winner Scott Bearden (Germont) impresses audiences and critics alike with his vivid portrayals of many of the heavier baritone roles from the Italian repertoire.  In 2008, to great acclaim, Mr. Bearden appeared in the title role in Verdi’s Rigoletto with San Francisco Opera.  He has sung leading roles in Otello, I Pagliacci, Il Trovatore, Falstaff, Aida, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and La Bohème with Opera San Jose, Knoxville Opera, Toledo Opera and Mississippi Opera.

The role of Dr. Grenvil will be performed by our frequent guest from Syracuse, bass/baritone John Davies. The cast will be completed by local singers Kimberly Upcraft-Russ as Annina, Robert Strauss as Gastone, and JJ Hudson as Baron Douphol.