Canadian Opera Company's ‘La Traviata’ is a beautiful revival — but its stars are mismatched

First came Canadian Sarah Dufresne, who made a ravishing Canadian Opera Company (COC) debut as Gilda in “Rigoletto.” Now, Kathryn Lewek is delivering an equally impressive COC debut in the company’s latest revival of “La Traviata,” in which she plays the French courtesan Violetta Valéry, whose lavish lifestyle can’t shield her from a debilitating illness and heartbreak at the hands of her lover, the nobleman Alfredo.

Lewek’s performance is one that, from her opening aria, grabs the audience by the collar and doesn’t let go until her last breath, one that manages to make the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts feel like a private salon, as if we’re right there with Violetta, tracing her steps in her final, tragic weeks. 

Throughout, Lewek demonstrates the breadth and ease of her technical ability. Pianissimo passages are rendered with an ethereal shimmer, floating above the stage, lingering with haunting resonance. Particularly in the opera’s third act, after Violetta is convinced by Alfredo’s father, Giorgio, to end their relationship, Lewek marvellously, yet subtlety, conveys her character’s vulnerability.

But there’s power to Lewek’s Violetta as well. And when she opens up, she reveals a robust, mellifluous sound, especially in her lower register. 

It’s a performance, without question, that is the highlight of director Arin Arbus’ production, returning to the COC for the third time since it debuted in Toronto over a decade ago. But it’s too bad that Lewek is paired with a co-star who struggles to match her level. 

Long Long, the Chinese tenor who was one of the saving graces in a calamitous COC production of “Faust” two years ago, delivered a surprisingly wobbly opening-night performance as Alfredo. Though he possesses a bright, ardent voice, Long’s loose vibrato occasionally distorts the melodic line, pushing it sharp. This is perhaps less noticeable in Alfredo’s arias, but is unmistakable when Long duets with Lewek. 

His acting also leaves much to be desired. Arbus’ original staging, replicated here by revival director Mo Zhou, burns with passion, offering many intimate moments between Violetta and Alfredo. But Long rarely conveys the stakes of their relationship. His movement comes across as measured and unnatural, hands often dangling by his sides in clenched fists. His Alfredo feels less like a rebel going against the rigid rules of French society than an awkward teenager stumbling through his first love. 

Lewek is better matched in her few scenes with Russell Braun as Giorgio, Alfredo’s father, who only wants the best for his son. The Canadian baritone produces a warm sound matched with a stage presence that, captivatingly, teeters between sympathetic and threatening. 

Arbus’ production remains one of the gems in the COC’s repertoire. And what it does best is capture the excess, but also the superficiality, of the world in Verdi’s “La Traviata.” This is a world of colourful, even gaudy, decadence, where tables overflow with sweet treats and libations, and social gatherings are accompanied by music and dancers. (The opulent sets are by Riccardo Hernandez, while the period costumes are designed by Cait O’Connor.) 

But it’s also a world where all that can so quickly be stripped away. By the third act, when Lewek’s Violetta is resigned to her deathbed, Arbus’ production becomes eerily naked. Gone are the resplendent sets, replaced by greying walls and austere lights (designed by Marcus Doshi) that cast tall, ghostly shadows. 

Even the orchestra, led competently by visiting conductor Paolo Carignani, sounds more naked and exposed, with murmuring, isolated string passages accentuating how death, for Violetta, merely lurks around the corner.

“La Traviata” roughly translates from Italian into English as “the wayward woman.” But Arbus’ production is really more about the waywardness of the world — the illusion of social stratification, how social order can so easily slip into disorder. It’s a production that whips up a storm and at the eye of this hurricane is Lewek’s Violetta, the gale-force presence who gives this work its shape.