La Traviata, Fremont Opera, Aug. 27 2010

Fremont Opera is a new (2007) small regional opera company that concentrates on semi-staged productions of the most-standard operatic repertoire. I missed their first production, of La Boheme, but did get to their second production, Barber of Seville, two years ago. I still talk about it. "Semi-staged" meant that there were furniture and costumes and acting, just no sets—a far cry from a "concert performance." And the singing and the acting and the directing were first-rate. With a performance like that, who needed sets? Especially when the absence of sets leaves them with enough budget to hire a full-size orchestra.

So when I found out that the winner of this year's Irene Dalis Vocal Competition, Danielle Talamantes, would be singing in this summer's semi-staged production of La Traviata, I jumped at the chance. What's more, Scott Bearden, winner of last year's Irene Dalis Vocal Competition, would be singing Gi0rgio Germont. I was early enough to snag front-row seats.

No sets, no curtain; the performance started with the conductor, Violetta, and her maid walking onto the darkened stage and assuming their positions, Violetta on a backless sofa. During the prelude, Violetta slowly awakes, coughs, and changes from her nightgown into her party dress, and when the music picks up, Act I proper is launched. Talamantes has a nice voice, perhaps a shade darker than what I was expecting in a Violetta, and lacking the exceptional energy and vivacity of the party girl that is Violetta. Her Alfredo, Benjamin Bunsold, was someone I don't remember having seen before. He's quite a striking young man, but he seemed not to have much control over his voice, and to have something stuck in his throat that rendered his voice rough and harsh in the lower register and verging on squeaky in the upper register. Fremont Opera likes to take advantage of the "balconies" that overlook the stage. During her "Ah forse lui" and "Sempre libera," sang his "Amor e palpito" interjections first from offstage, and then from the overlook.

The singers must have been given a pep talk during the first intermission. Bunsold's voice had improved remarkably, and he delivered an acceptable cavatina. But after being interrupted by the maid, he strode off the stage, omitting the powerful cabaletto. A bit later we were treated to the finest voice of the evening, Scott Bearden's Giorgio Germont, enjoyable in all respects save one: much of the time he appeared to be singing to a much larger house than the 405-seat Jackson Theatre. He has, or can have, a big voice that I hope stands him in good stead elsewhere. Interestingly, the director had him wear a clerical collar—based, I presume, on his lines "It is God, my child, who inspires these words that a father speaks" and "One day heaven will reward you for those tears." It gives him religious in addition to parental authority, not to mention vocal authority. His "Di Provenza" was tender and loving.

Having cut Alfredo's cabaletto from the beginning of scene 1, I was wondering whether the chorus of gypsies and chorus of matadors (and attendant dancers) in Flora's party might be cut as well, but they weren't. There was only one (masked) matador, who danced with two women; at the end he removed his mask, revealing himself to be—Alfredo! Which was a perfect setup for the chorus's ejaculation of "Alfredo! ... Voi!" ("Alfredo! ... You!"). At the end, when the elder Germont chastises his son for insulting a woman, he does so not from the party floor, but from the overlook.

Act III brings us of course to Violetta's deathbed, around dawn. As an example of how well a semi-staged performance can be done, when Violetta asks Annina to open the shutters and let in some light, the maid goes up to the edge of the stage, reaches up her arms, and draws apart the imaginary shutters—and the spotlight bathes her in light. Predictable, yes, but very effective. One measure of the effectiveness of a La Traviata is whether any eyes are moistened when she expires. It's rare, but it can happen. For a moment earlier in the act, I thought we might get there, but no.

For me, the standouts were two: Scott Bearden's Giorgio Germont, and the acting. For a small company that will give only two performances of this masterwork, they must have spent a lot of time rehearsing not just the singing but the acting as well. There was a lot of acting, and it was done very well. The orchestra played reasonably well, none of the horn bobbles that marred The Legend of the Ring, but they lacked the vivacity that is called for at some points.

Bottom line: enjoyable, glad I went, yet no comparison to the Barber of Seville of two years ago. But I'll certainly plan to see their next production (disregarding distractions such as Fremont Opera goes Bollywood), whenever it is.