![]() ![]() ![]() Tenor Dmytro Popov was a sturdy Alfredo in a performance that emphasized rectitude over impulsivity. One could, literally, listen to her sing for hours. (Verdi, realist that he was, had similar reservations about the soprano who created the role in Venice in 1853.)īut if there have been more dramatically convincing Violettas, few have matched Kurzak for vocal opulence and expressive delivery. In the brilliance of Act I’s “Sempre libera,” one saw more the proud, vital vocal athlete than the heedless party-girl character, and in purely stage terms it was hard to buy the robustly healthy-looking, mature singer as a consumptive youngster. ![]() To be fair, her performance was more a musical triumph than a dramatic one. High range or low, in aching pianissimo or passionate forte, her voice filled the Met’s vast space without a hint of strain. Kurzak met it with sparkling coloratura in Act I and deeply affecting phrasing as her character’s fortunes and health declined. No stranger to the house, Kurzak has appeared in half a dozen lyric roles over the past decade and a half, winning admiration for her exceptionally full, creamy tone, vocal agility, and sensitive expression.īut to carry the show in what is essentially a three-person drama revolving around her character, experiencing the highest of giddy highs and the darkest of despairing lows, is one of the great challenges in the opera repertoire. If one can say this about a veteran performer, a star was born Friday night at the Met, as soprano Aleksandra Kurzak ruled the stage for three hours as Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata. Aleksandra Kurzak stars as Violetta in the Metropolitan Opera production of Verdi’s La Traviata.
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