‘Traviata’ Draws Strength From the Pit

Handsome to look at, the John Conklin-designed production of Verdi’s “La Traviata,” which returned to Civic Theatre Saturday night with a cast new since the 1991 San Diego Opera performances, offered few musical thrills on the stage, but wonderful, authoritative, dramatically fluent sounds coming out of the pit.

Richard Bonynge, a practiced veteran of numerous “Traviatas,” is in musical charge and, while he cannot sing the principals’ roles for them, he clearly has a positive influence on them. More important, at the opening-night performance, his economical conducting inspired the willing and gifted orchestra to feats of musical clarification San Diego audiences do not always enjoy. From the sweep of the fast-paced passages in the opening scene to the telling details in Act 4, the playing showed the genuine luster and point of Verdi’s score.

The cast this time around--San Diego Opera has been turning out “Traviatas” regularly since 1970--sings respectably but inconsistently. Having the notes and the range--as Deborah Riedel as Violetta, Jorge Lopez-Yan~ez as Alfredo and Richard Zeller as Giorgio Germont certainly do--is only the beginning of expressivity; these three express little beyond competence.

Mostly, they are bland actors, failing regularly to project meaning and character to the observer. Musically, each is particularly short on legato, the smooth and unbroken connection between notes in a phrase; instead of line, one hears space. And these singers do not act with their voices, or even think about doing so.

Riedel, a highly gifted soprano from Australia, seems most detached from her dramatic opportunities, which in this role are myriad. One expects that her dramatic horizons will expand with more experience.

Lopez-Yan~ez also showed many signs of disconnection between the music and the play, and never became dramatically convincing. Zeller’s promising Germont at this point is underdone musically; it is possible that the voice may be at present too light for the role, but will develop over time.

The rest of the cast operated at a low level of vocal achievement, but enacted Wolfgang Weber’s sensible stage direction gamely and wore David Walker’s opulent costumes with panache, as did the solid chorus (trained, as usual, by Martin Wright), which participated wholeheartedly in the party scenes.

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* San Diego Opera’s “La Traviata” will be performed, with the same cast, in Civic Theatre, 3rd Avenue and B Street, San Diego, Tuesday at 7 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. and April 16 at 7 p.m. Tickets: $25-$80. (619) 236-6510.