La traviata

This production prefers black to bright colours. Novaya Opera’s La traviata is not a romantic love story, but a tragedy of love and death. The performance begins and ends with Violetta’s death. In the interim, Violetta, like a wounded bird, thrashes and rushes about, trying to break out from the closed circuit of her own destiny.

The production reveals the gap between the current and the last century. The theatre not only feels sympathy for Violetta and Alfredo, but mourns over them.

Press

Such a professional in all its components, complete and unpredictable performance has not been seen not only at the Novaya Opera, but in the whole of Moscow for a long time.

The Kultura newspaper
11-17 November 1999

In this performance the nerves are naked. The reactions are rapid and spontaneous. The producers have enlarged the emotions of the characters, leaving only the gist of the story and throwing off what in their opinion is useless entourage, décor.

Supplement to the Pervoe Sentyabrya — Iskusstvo newspaper
No. 5, February 2000

Traviata is an example of a present-day production as it should be like but seldom is — intellectual, stylish, beneficial and infatuating.

The Moscow Tribune newspaper
24 December 1999