La traviata

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The Greek National Opera concludes the exceptionally successful 2023/24 season with Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, on 27, 28, 30, and 31 July 2024. The ill-starred love harboured by the “Lady of the Camellias” for Alfredo Germont –as envisioned and set to music by Verdi using melodies of singular power that blazon themselves indelibly upon our hearts and minds– is being brought to life once more conducted by Pier Giorgio Morandi and directed by Konstantinos Rigos.

The premiere of La traviata at Teatro La Fenice in Venice on 6 March 1853 is often described as one of the biggest failures in opera history. “La Traviata was a fiasco, spare yourself from finding an excuse, it's just how it is,” wrote Verdi on the very next day, on 7 March 1853, to his publisher Tito Ricordi. A century and a half later, this Verdi masterpiece stands as one of the most popular works in the repertoire, with hundreds of performances given each year at opera houses across the globe before rapt audiences in their thousands.

La traviata in Konstantinos Rigos’ staging was first performed at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in 2019, signaling the exceptionally successful operatic debut of the director, choreographer, and Director of the Greek National Opera Ballet Konstantinos Rigos. Throughout his long-standing career and in addition to his choreographies, Konstantinos Rigos has successfully directed works ranging from large-scale theatrical performances, such as Bossa Nova, Titanic, The Red Lanterns, Anemos, and Romeo and Juliet, to big musical productions, such as Cabaret, Rocky Horror Show, Erotocritus, Cheap Smokes, etc.

In line with the spirit of Verdi’s enrapturing music, Rigos marks his stamp on a direction that focuses on the “forced pleasure” which seems to suffocate all the protagonists of the story, as well as the smothering effect of economic transactions that defines everything in the lives of the characters. A psychological profile of Violetta Valéry, from the dawn of love to the darkness of death, set in a “minimal” baroque environment.

The opera describes the love of a courtesan with the son of a prominent Parisian family. The relationship triggers the reaction of the young man’s family, the couple breaks up, and they meet again a while before the girl dies.

The impressive black and colourful costumes of the chorus, the ballet, and the protagonists were designed by Ioanna Tsami. The atmospheric lighting was designed by Christos Tziogkas and the video projections by Vassilis Kehagias. Mary Tsagari was the associate architect who helped create the set inspired by Konstantinos Rigos.

Leading the Orchestra of the Greek National Opera will be the highly acclaimed Italian conductor Pier Giorgio Morandi, who is well-known to GNO audiences. Known for his mastery of the Italian repertoire, he has conducted performances at the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including La Monnaie in Brussels, the Berlin State Opera, New York Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Royal Opera House in London, Arena di Verona, Zurich Opera, Royal Swedish Opera, Frankfurt Opera, Royal Theatre in Parma, Seattle Opera, Royal Albert Hall, and other venues in Rome, Tokyo, Gothenburg, Naples, Paris, Mallorca, Sydney, Copenhagen, etc.

In this year’s revival of La traviata, the Greek National Opera presents two unique casts, starring world-class opera protagonists.

In the first cast, audiences will have the unique chance to discover the American opera superstar Nadine Sierra who will be performing the role of Violetta Valéry – for the first time in Greece. The most sought-after soprano has performed in the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including the New York Metropolitan Opera, Opéra national de Paris, Royal Opera House in London, La Scala in Milan, Teatro Real in Madrid, Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, and other venues. She has left her mark on her interpretations of Gilda (Rigoletto) and Lucia di Lammermoor, while also having a remarkable and extensive repertoire.

Alongside Sierra will be performing the vocally outstanding British-Italian tenor Freddie De Tommaso in the role of Alfredo Germοnt. De Tommaso found himself in the spotlight in December 2011 when he had to replace the sick tenor playing Cavaradossi in a production of Tosca at the Royal Opera House in London, during the intermission following Act I. Thus, at the age of just 28 he emerged as the youngest tenor to ever perform this role on this iconic stage and also as the first British tenor to do so since 1963, leading the Press to unanimously declare that a new star was born. He is considered to be a tenor skilled in the tradition of the great Italian tenors, who enjoys wide recognition, performing leading roles in prestigious theatres worldwide.

The long-awaited leading trio comes complete with the internationally acclaimed baritone Dimitri Platanias performing the role of Giorgio Germont. Dimitri Platanias has carved out a long-standing career, enjoying rave reviews for his performances at the world’s greatest opera houses, including those of San Francisco, Munich, Hamburg, London, Madrid, and others.

In the second cast, we will have the opportunity to enjoy the distinguished soprano from the Greek National Opera Vassiliki Karayanni as Violetta Valéry. She has repeatedly starred in productions of the Greek National Opera and has successfully performed at the world’s most prestigious opera houses, festivals, and concert halls, such as the Royal Opera House in London, La Scala in Milan, Komische Oper Berlin, and others.

The renowned Italian tenor Francesco Demuro, who was adored by the GNO audience for his previous performances, is now making a comeback in the role of Alfredo. He has performed some of the greatest roles in the classical repertoire in prominent theatres the world over, including La Scala in Milan, the San Fransisco Opera, the New York Metropolitan Opera, etc.

The internationally acclaimed Greek baritone Tassis Christoyannis will be performing as Giorgio Germont. This will be the second production he will be performing in this summer at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, following his role as Scarpia in Tosca, last June. The celebrated baritone, who is now also the Artistic Director of the Olympia Municipal Music Theatre “Maria Callas”, has been starring in productions of the Greek National Opera since 1989, while he has also performed at the world’s most prominent theatres, including Opéra Comique, Opéra national de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Royal Opera House in London, and others.

Accompanying them on stage will be renowned Greek soloists including Chrysanthi Spitadi, Eleni Voudouraki, Yannis Kalyvas, Nikolas Douros, Nikos Kotenidis, Georgios Papadimitriou, Nikos Katsigiannis, and Ioannis Kontellis.

The GNO Chorus will be conducted by Agathangelos Georgakatos. The production also features the GNO Ballet.

The director Konstantinos Rigos notes about the work:

“In Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata one can clearly notice a vein of meaning strongly pulsating to this day: the obligation to seek pleasure. Violetta’s world, swirling to the sounds of waltz, anguishes over the end of the party, the end of pleasure: waltz is the musical metonymy for this agony. Even when she withdraws from society life, even when she is dying, Violetta’s inner world is still tuned into the rhythm of a waltz, during which she draws her last breath. In La traviata pleasure is not morally condemned; it becomes an object of observation. The work’s structure, scenes of a self-indulgent life followed by separation and death, is in itself a reflective remark, an operatic memento mori. And what could be closer to modern-day hedonism, which is now at the heart of a spectacle and consumer society?

Presenting La traviata inside the historic Odeon of Herodes Atticus places the work within a challenging yet interesting context: one must find a balance between the overtly exuberant scenes and the private moments. The walls of this ancient odeon impose a sense of timelessness, and inescapably induct the narrative into deep time. In this intermediary space, between past and future, Violetta seems suspended within an era left in limbo, offering her story up to audiences as yet another product for consumption, as she was herself.

The Herodium stage space is divided into two distinct realms: closed rooms (that represent the heroine’s psyche) and a scenic world of contrived pleasures dominated by a huge table. These two worlds unfold in parallel, with the heroine reflected in her alter ego, thus giving the conflict inside her tangible form – this is arguably the production’s most significant narrative feature. La traviata is Violetta herself, which explains the focus on capturing her emotions and projecting them –enlarged– upon the time-worn walls of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.

Love, in the asphyxiating context imposed by Violetta’s social stigmatisation, is the only transcendental element in a path that seems to be predetermined (the same way death is predetermined by sickness). The duality Love / Death, with which Wagner was also preoccupied that same time in his Tristan, is founded here not on existential but on social terms. Violetta cannot overcome her stigmatisation. She can only be exalted through offering her forgiveness to a world that condemned her to be a valuable link in the chain of forced pleasure.”