Eternal lady of the camellias

The eve of Sant Jordi, FOC (Fundació Òpera Catalunya) brought the 2025-26 season to a close with a new production of La traviata, an opera that the Sabadell-based entity has staged on several occasions throughout its long career. And I take this opportunity to suggest that FOC create a virtual consultation source listing the titles and casts programmed since 1982.On this occasion, Verdi's opera has a double cast, although it could end up being triple if Maria Miró, initially scheduled as one of the announced Violettas – the other is Montserrat Seró – joins the scheduled performances in and out of Sabadell, after a vocal ailment has kept her away. At the premiere performance, the leading soprano was Tina Gorina. The singer from Sant Feliu de Guíxols, who had already sung the title role in Valencia, displayed sensational musicality, especially in a brilliant second act with unforgettable moments, such as the way she articulated the phrase “Dite alla giovine, si bella e pura”.Good material, too, from the Mallorcan tenor Antoni Lliteres, a devoted Alfredo, with the cabaletta included in the second act after resolving with conviction and firmness De miei bollenti spiriti.For his part, baritone Luis Cansino showed excellent taste in phrasing and in the use of dynamics in his duet with Violetta and the subsequent aria (and also cabaletta) before Alfredo. His voice is uneven, but Cansino knows his stuff and made good use of the basic material.Good material also from the pit, with a brilliant Symphony of Vallès and with brilliant moments (also the Cor d’Amics de l’Òpera), although the direction of Andrés Salado did not always get it right in the concertation and with some false entry that occasionally misled the performers on stage.Carles Ortiz is a veteran director, who knows how to stage very well and who has the complicity of the spatial conception of Jordi Galobart and the movement of Jaume Sangrà. In this case, at the service of a very well-known title about which practically everything has already been said. However, the idea of ​​transferring the original action of the opera (1840s) to the glamour of high society in 1950 not only keeps the spirit of the original plot alive and current, but also helps to emphasize the loneliness of the protagonist. A complete success.After the tour that took the show to Manresa, Vic, Reus, Viladecans, Cornellà, Lleida, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Granollers, Girona, Tarragona and Barcelona, FOC is already warming up for a new season, with works such as L’elisir d’amore, the duo Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci, Cançó d’amor i de guerra and Aida. Two of these titles, by the way, also present next season at the Liceu... couldn't they agree?