The Teatro di San Carlo has once again revived one of the best-loved and most-performed operas in the world – La traviata, in a staging aimed at an audience that prefers a traditional, poetic reading of Verdi's opera. This production by director Lorenzo Amato is convincing for its intimate dramaturgy with the music. It reflects on thwarted love, illness, the inevitable passage of time, arid social conventions, hypocrisy, sacrifice and, finally, death.
The greatest difficulty for directors in staging Traviata is how to represent a drama that has become universal, freeing the work from conventional interpretations that indulge sentimentalism. Amato's reading is simple and evocative, emphasising the profound loneliness of the characters.
The director's work in this production focuses intensely on delving into Violetta's inner world, examining her struggle to reconcile societal expectations with her impending death. This internal conflict is vividly illustrated by contrasting Violetta's longing for eternal youth and beauty, as expressed in her aria “Sempre libera”, with the stark reality presented by the libretto: a young woman fated for an early death, striving for happiness within a hypocritical society.
Ezio Frigerio's set designs evoked a fin de siècle atmosphere, intentionally ambiguous to bestow the production with a timeless, ethereal quality. This choice emphasises the universal nature of the human tragedy being portrayed. In contrast, Franca Squarciapino's exquisite costumes reflect the historical period of the narrative, anchoring the story in its intended era. Central to the stage design is a backdrop as transparent as glass, from which a constant flow of rain falls, serving both a literal and symbolic function. The stylised portrayal of Paris as a grey, rainy city reinforces themes of alienation, melancholy and suffering.