<<  -- 3 --  Maria Nockin    ENCHANTING AS EVER

Violetta, sung by Elizabeth Futral, looked like the quintessential twenties party girl in her slinky dress and glittering tiara. She sang well, too, but like many other sopranos, she had problems with the coloratura of 'Sempre libera'. Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja was a magnificent Alfredo. He has a large, warm voice with a bit of weight to it and he knows exactly how to use it. However, one might wonder why he omitted the high note at the end of 'O mio rimorso, o infamia.' As with most sizeable voices, recordings do not capture the full impact of his sound. He is an excellent addition to the Los Angeles Opera roster and we can hope he will return on a regular basis.

As the elder Germont, Dwayne Croft was an impressive patriarch who sang with floods of burnished tone. Suzanna Guzmán was a charming, believable Flora and Philip Kraus explored all the facets of his role as Violetta's original protector, Baron Douphol. Resident artist Jinyoung Yang, who has been a valuable contributor to several other productions, again made his mark as Doctor Grenvil, while another vocally adept resident artist, Jessical Swink, proved to be an energetic and caring Annina. Peter Nathan Foltz and Lee Poulis created creditable characters as Gastone and the Marquis d'Obigny.

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