Ermonela Jaho as Violetta, photo by Catherine Ashmore
La Traviata, 2019
La Traviata, opera in three acts, music by Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, after La dame aux camélias by Alexander Dumas (fils), conducted by Antonello Manacorda, directed by Richard Eyre, Royal Opera, 14th January 2019, reviewed by LESLIE JONES
The gamin (street urchin), all alone in that “teeming desert called Paris”, as depicted on the opening curtain of this production, is presumably la petite Plessis. Courtesan Marie Duplessis was the inspiration for the character Marguerite Gautier, in La dame aux camélias, by Alexander Dumas (fils). As Professor René Weis records, Duplessis eventually married Edouard, Vicomte de Perregaux, the precursor of the character Alfredo Germont. We were reminded of Michael White’s description of Arianna Stassinopoulous, to wit, “the most upwardly mobile Greek since Icarus”.
In this, the 16th revival, no less, of Richard Eyre’s production, first seen in 1994, Violetta is played by Albanian born soprano Ermonela Jaho. A svelte and striking figure, Ms Jaho has a commanding stage presence and looks perfect in the part. She confidently follows in the footsteps of previous distinguished performers of this demanding role. Her rendition of the poignant aria Dite alla giovine received warm applause. Jaho and soprano Charles Castronovo, as Alfredo Germont, make a handsome couple. But baritone Igor Golovatenko (Giorgio Germont) in his Royal Opera debut, was underwhelming, especially in the aria Di Provenza, usually a highlight of La Traviata. Continue reading
Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy
Captured French soldiers from Dien Bien Phu 1954
Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy
Max Hastings, Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy 1945-1975, William Collins, London, 2018, xix-xxx + pp. 1-652, Illustrations, Maps, Glossary, Bibliography and Index, ISBN 978-0-00-813298-9, reviewed by Frank Ellis
This thirty-year story of slaughter and misery begins with the French attempt to reimpose colonial rule after World War II. To this end, the French devoted much blood and treasure, theirs to begin with, and then American, losing some 93,000 soldiers. French resources would have been much better spent on rebuilding France, above all psychologically, after the war, rather than aspiring to play the role of some great imperial power, and trying to atone for the collapse of 1940. A point not picked up by Hastings is that the reasserted French claim to its colonies was a flagrant violation of the Atlantic Charter (1941) which guaranteed nations the right to choose their own government. Why should the Vietnamese, liberated from Japanese occupation, have to submit to the re-imposition of French colonial rule?
By arming the Vietnamese in the belief that they would fight the Japanese, the British and Americans also helped to instil the idea of national independence and armed struggle to achieve it. It did not occur to them, however, that these weapons would be used to fight the French. Such unintended consequences were repeated in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The CIA ensured that a liberal supply of weapons, including highly effective anti-aircraft missiles, was delivered to the mujahedeen, with disastrous consequences after the Soviet withdrawal. One lesson here is that when the interests that brought the supplier and recipient of weapons together in a common cause start to diverge, you cannot recall the weapons. Today’s ally in a common cause is potentially tomorrow’s enemy. Continue reading →
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