<<  -- 3 --  Malcolm Miller    Star performance

La Traviata is also an opera of duets, from the rollicking Libiamo of Act I, here sparkling and brightly articulated through the sequence of intimate encounters in Act II to the final seeringly tragic interactions of Act III. The duet of Violetta and Germont pere was utterly convincing, and worthy of the best professional productions, especially the pivotal moment when she agrees to the sacrifice, underscored by a pregnant pause, while Germont pere's Piange piange (here rendered 'bitter bitter') was infused with anguish. Indeed by the end of the evening one wondered if the heroine would soon grace the stage of some major opera houses. In the meantime it is to the credit of societies such as the Ware Operatic that productions of serious masterpieces are rendered at a high level. This society's move towards serious opera after numerous seasons of mainly lighter operetta (Gilbert and Sullivan, Offenbach, Lehar) is a decision to be applauded (as did the packed houses), as also is the choice of chorus and soloists.