A Possible Goodbye?

Is it possible that tonight's dernière of "La Traviata" might be Natalie Dessay's last performance at the Wiener Staatsoper?

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It is likely. Frau Kammersängerin has repeatedly emphasized that she wants to quit singing and become an actress instead stating that she perceives the opera repertoire as "too narrow". She's been talking about becoming an actress for years but the actual decision might be just around the corner considering the fact that she's already looking for possible employers (at least on Austrian national tv). [Side note: She also talked about buying a farm and riding horses for the rest of her life at some point but this hasn't been mentioned ever since so we'll consider this a less probable scenario.]


Rumor has it that she will not be singing for much longer than 3 more years. Dessay has also made clear that due to the short rehearsal periods she won't be doing repertoire performances at the Wiener Staatsoper anymore. A singer of her status, of course, has the right to be picky about the work she takes on. It is, however, not very likely that she will appear in a new production at this house within the next 3 years. But this is just a personal guess...

To Boo Or Not To Boo

NY Times critic Anthony Tommasini calls the Met’s new “Don Giovanni” “a production with no compelling point of view” adding that it “almost makes you yearn for those new stagings where the creative team is booed on opening night”. Director Michael Grandage apparently received respectful but unenthusiastic ovations for his traditional staging that was without stirring ideas. (In that it joins the club of boredom with Vienna’s “Don Giovanni” production that premiered last season.)


Maybe Tommasini should consider visiting the Wiener Staatsoper sometime where a week ago Jean-François Sivadier and his creative team were booed without restraint for their new production of “La Traviata”. After 3 hours of a minimalist staging (a few chairs and pillows, small backdrops showing meadows or sky, the words “Violetta” and “Traviata” scribbled on the wall - a helpful reminder for the audience of what performance they were seeing) it became quiet in the house before Sivadier’s curtain call while the audience gathered momentum for the loudest booing the Staatsoper has heard since, I believe, the catastrophe that was the new production for “Macbeth” two years ago. Despite a large number of traditionalists that would have loved to continue seeing Otto Schenk’s staging for another 40 years, there were many that were looking forward to Sivadier’s new ideas…and they were majorly disappointed.

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General Manager Dominique Meyer felt compelled to comfort his fellow Frenchman Sivadier by saying, “It’s not so bad!” and, “It’s not a sin to show something new. This is a strong production and it will survive.” Will it survive? Once the wonderful Natalie Dessay and her acting skills leave the Staatsoper after six performances all that will be left of this production are the chairs, pillows and backdrops. I am afraid that my prediction stated earlier in this place will come true: An era of Traviata concert versions awaits the Viennese audience.

Nafornita Makes Her Vienna House Debut

As previously discussed the Wiener Staatsoper so far has been very successful at hiding Cardiff Singer of the World 2011, Valentina Nafornita, who joined the ensemble at the beginning of the new season. I am happy to announce that she will be making her house debut as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, at last. Of course the house has failed to announce this on its deficient website where a minor role like Papagena does not show up in the cast list.

Cardiff Singer of the World In The House!

It is a sign that the Wiener Staatsoper lacks a sense of PR when the 2011 Cardiff Singer of the World joins the house's ensemble and it is not adequately communicated to the public.
Soprano Valentina Nafornita from Moldova won this year's Cardiff competition at the age of only 24 with these renditions of Korngold and Gounod, among others:

One would think that the addition of this striking young talent to the Staatsoper's ensemble would be worth a press release, a mention on the website's cover page or anything of the like but, alas, this apparently was only worth an empty page. So far she is not officially scheduled to appear in any performances which is also a pity. If the arrival of Nafornita at this venerable house was communicated appropriately, enough people would rush to the Staatsoper to find out what the fuss was all about. Not to mention the positive momentum of the international attention directed at Nafornita after winning such a prestigious prize.

But this is just an amateur's opinion who found out about these delightful news by happenstance...

Vienna's New Violetta

The Vienna State Opera is getting ready for their first premiere of the season. After approximately 300 performances of the perhaps a little dusty but still functioning production of "La Traviata" by director Otto Schenk they're throwing out the chaiselongue and bringing in an all new, (almost) all French and all modern production by Jean-François Sivadier as seen earlier this year at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.

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One may argue that vocally this might not be the best fit for Natalie Dessay but everyone who has seen this woman act before must simply be looking forward to being introduced to her Violetta.


One may also argue that a modern production that has obviously been created around the energetic and creative person of Dessay, the actress-singer, might not work as well with park-and-bark-approaches by other singers who will take on this role in the future. It is also to be seen how the production will do without long rehearsal periods where - as experienced in the past with long standing productions at this house - little details are lost and the functionality of a production is proved...or not.

On October 9th we will try to imagine how this new Traviata production might last for another 300 shows.

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