10/18/14 – La Traviata – 1:00pm

San Francisco Opera

OPERA: La Traviata (in Italian)
COMPOSER: Giuseppe Verdi

Violetta Valéry may be the most heart-wrenching character in all of opera: a high-spirited but deceptively delicate woman who unexpectedly finds, and then selflessly gives up, the love of her all-too-short life. Her story will be brought to the stage by two spectacular casts. One features Nicole Cabell, a winner of the BBC Singer of the World Competition whose Company debut in 2012’s The Capulets and the Montagues was praised for its “sheer sumptuous gorgeousness” (San Jose Mercury News); tenor Saimir Pirgu is Violetta’s lover Alfredo, whose depiction of the role is “right on vocally as well as dramatically” (Associated Press); and Vladimir Stoyanov, praised by The New York Times for his “warm, attractive voice.” The other is led by Ailyn Pérez, whose performance of the role at London’s Royal Opera House was hailed as “an unalloyed triumph” (The Guardian, London); Stephen Costello, “an ascending voice in opera” with an “engaging, pure voice” (Philadelphia Inquirer); and the “triumphant” and “splendid” Quinn Kelsey (San Francisco Chronicle).

Sung in Italian with English supertitles
Approximate running time: 3 hours including two intermissions

CAST:
Violetta Valéry Sonya Yoncheva
Ailyn Pérez
Alfredo Germont Saimir Pirgu
Stephen Costello
Giorgio Germont Vladimir Stoyanov
Quinn Kelsey
Flora Bervoix Zanda Svede
Baron Douphol Dale Travis
Marquis D’Obigny Hadleigh Adams
Doctor Grenvil Andrew Craig Brown
Annina Erin Johnson

CONDUCTOR: Nicola Luisotti
STAGE DIRECTOR: Laure Feldman

San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus
CHORUS DIRECTOR: Ian Robertson

Recorded Summer 2014, War Memorial Opera House.

Production photos: Cory Weaver.
Additional photo: Philip Groshong/Cincinnati Opera.