Stuart Macbeth respects the adventurous spirit of Ellen Kent's opera company - which overcame civil war to stage a fun version of La Traviata

  • Ellen Kent's La Traviata
  • New Theatre, Oxford
  • February 20

Opera goers can get snotty about Ellen Kent’s productions. “She should never be allowed to direct an opera” moaned a gentleman on Twitter last time her company visited Oxford. A young lady tweets this week that she spent her “formative years watching Ellen Kent, not realising that opera wasn’t supposed to be funny”.

To me the garish costumes, flamboyant acting and lively sets - which often wobble at inappropriate moments - all form part of the entertainment. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. It’s another packed house tonight for La Traviata.

The cast is lead by Alyona Kistenyova playing Violetta and Ruslan Zinevych in the role of Alfredo. These star-struck lovers are married in real life. Do they argue at home over the challenges their roles pose? Both sing with greater aplomb through Acts Two and Three.

Kistenyova’s voice is quite lovely and the set pieces between them are delightful. It’s just an accident of nature than he’s a good few inches shorter than she is - so Ellen Kent has him strutting the boards in high heeled leather boots.

Boots and costumes like these are exactly what you’d want in a traditionally staged opera - with a little exuberant campness thrown in for good measure. Take the lavish, colourful dresses worn at Bervoix’s ball in Act Two Scene Two. They’re loud enough to light up the auditorium and bring a smile to your face. Remind me to dig out my sunglasses.

I’d say to the gentleman on Twitter that not only should Ellen Kent be allowed to direct operas, she has the chutzpah to direct entire countries. For this year’s performances she had to negotiate her wardrobe department out of a Ukrainian war zone. Could you do that? She had most of her sets rescued while bombs smashed holes in Donetsk. Not even a raging civil war can stop this woman. Such is her effectiveness that I can imagine Soviet scientists at the height of the Cold War trying to clone her.

Vladimir Dragos who excelled in Tosca and Rigoletto recently is back as Alfredo’s father. He has a marvellous stage presence and his emotive baritone voice does well not to overpower the leads. Excellent Ukranian conductor Vasyl Vasylenko leads a superb performance from the orchestra.

In the row next to me I meet a couple of people who’ve never been to the opera before tonight. It’s easy to be put off by the threat of long hours spent reaching for your earplugs and craving a comfy cushion. Both thoroughly enjoyed Ellen Kent’s La Traviata and say they’ll return next year.

You can be as snooty as you like, but what could be healthier for opera than a packed theatre, with people coming back for more?

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