The Wilmington Concert Association

Proudly Presents:

TEATRO LIRICO D’EUROPA
Orchestra and Chorus
Presents
LA TRAVIATA
(THE STRAYED WOMAN)
by Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave

Based on the play by Alexander Dumas La DAME AUX CAMELIAS

Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8 p.m.
at Kenan Auditorium on the UNCW Campus

For ticket information, please click here.

Artistic Director/Stage Director: Giorgio Lalov
Conductor: Krassimir Topolov
Sets/Costumes: Giorgio Lalov

Artists are subject to change without notice

CHARACTERS

VIOLETTA VALERY ................Marina Viskvorkina

Soprano ..................................... Snejana Dramcheva

FLORA BERVOIX .....................Viara Zhelezova
Mezzo-Soprano

ALFREDO GERMONT ..............Orlin Goranov
Tenor ............................................Rafael Davila / Igor Borko

GIORGIO GERMONT ...............Peter Danailov

Baritone

BARON DOUPHOL ....................Hristo Sarafov
Baritone

DR. GRENVILLE .........................Plamen Dimitrov
Basso

DANCERS ..................................... Sofia National Opera Ballet

Guests of Violetta Valery, Chorus of Gypsies and Gypsy Dancers
Place and Time: Paris and surroundings around 19th century

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About Teatro Lirico D’Europa
Giorgio Lalov, Artistic Director

Teatro Lirico D’Europa, the European opera touring company formed in 1988 by Giorgio Lalov, a former Bulgarian opera singer, has completed over 4,000 performances worldwide and 10 consecutive seasons of major U.S. tours. The company is now embarking on its 11th season touring America. The fall 2009 and winter 2010 tours include over 75 performances of five full-scale operas, including a traditional version of Verdi’s tragic opera, LA TRAVIATA.

The operas will travel to the most outstanding venues across the United States as well as a side trip to the Island of Martinique with the Sofia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and professional dancers. Soloists for the productions were chosen from auditions held in major cities around the world including Moscow, Sofia, New York, Prague, St. Petersburg and San Juan. The principal singers are all professionals in the middle of major operatic careers. Visit Teatro Lirico’s web site for an in-depth history of the company, including hundreds of U.S. reviews, video clips and a huge photo gallery: www.JennyKellyProductions.com.

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ARTISTS BIOS

MARINA VISKVORKINA (Violetta Valery)

The young Ukrainian soprano is on the roster of the Prague State Opera, where she performs leading soprano roles in the lyric coloratura fach. She is a frequent guest artist at major European opera houses and performs regularly at the Vienna State Opera, where she has most recently undertaken the roles of Lucia in LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR and Violetta in LA TRAVIATA to outstanding critical acclaim. Ms. Viskvorkina performed Gilda in RIGOLETTO and Violetta in LA TRAVIATA on tour with Teatro Lirico D’Europa in the United States in 2004 and returned the next year to perform Musetta in LA BOHÈME. She traveled to the United States again in 2006 to perform the role of Violetta.

SNEJANA DRAMCHEVA (Violetta Valery) Bulgaria-born soprano, Snejana Dramcheva, graduated from the Dobrin Petkov Music School of Plovdiv, where she studied voice with Ivanka Michaylova. She also graduated from Pancho Vladigerov Music Academy in Sofia, where she studied with Professor Karnobatlova-Dobreva. Ms. Kramcheva made her artistic debut in 1984 with the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dobrin Petkov. In 1990, Ms. Dramcheva made her first appearance on the operatic stage in Mozart's DIE ENTFŰKHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL (THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO) with the Sofia National Opera and Ballet's opera studio. During 1991-1993, she completed several European tours with the German touring company, Schlotte, as Gilda in RIGOLETTO, Violetta in LA TRAVIATA and Musetta in LA BOHÈME.

Ms. Dramcheva’s awards include the second place prize at the Francesco Vignas competition in Barcelona, the Grand-Prix in Pamplona, Spain, the first prize in Pavia, Italy, and the Audience-Grand-Prix at the Giuseppe Verdi Competition in Parma, Italy. She was a finalist in the Belvedere International Opera Competition in Vienna and has participated in numerous international festivals and concerts.

Ms. Dramcheva has made recordings for the Bulgarian National Radio and for companies in other countries, singing opera répertoire of Bellini, Donizetti, Mozart, Puccini and Verdi. In recent years, she has been a frequent guest artist on opera stages in major European cities, including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bilbao, Lille, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris, Tokyo, Valencia and Zurich. Last season in the United States, she performed the role of Valencienne in MERRY WIDOW with Czech Opera Prague and Violetta in LA TRAVIATA with Teatro Lirico D’Europa. During the 2008-2009 season, Ms. Dramcheva performed the roles of Pamina in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE and Musetta in LA BOHÈME with Mozart Festival Opera and Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana with Teatro Lirico D’Europa. During the 2009-2010 season, she will also be performing Gilda in RIGOLETTO, Rosina in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, Adelle in FLEDERMAUS and Musetta in LA BOHÈME with Teatro D’Europa on its 11th major consecutive U.S. tour.

ORLIN GORANOV (Alfredo) Two-time Golden Orpheus first-place winner at the International Festival in Bulgaria, Mr. Goranov is a laureate of several international opera festivals, including the Dresden Festival, Bratislava Lyre International Slovakia Vocal Festival and the Intertalent Festival in Prague. He has been a principal soloist at the State Opera House in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, since 1999, and is a regular participant of both the Christmas and New Year's Berliner Symphoniker concerts since 1991. Mr. Goranov has made numerous recordings for both the Bulgarian National Radio and Bulgarian National Television. Since the 2005-2006 season, he has received outstanding critical acclaim for his performances with Teatro Lirico.

IGOR BORKO (Alfredo) Young Ukrainian tenor, Igor Borko, was educated at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Kiev, Ukraine. He has participated in master-classes with Renata Faltin and Furelli Carmen-Forti at La Scala in Milan. Mr. Borko is currently a principal soloist at the Kiev Opera House and makes numerous guest-appearances with opera companies throughout The Czech Republic, France, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia and Spain. Mr. Borko’s répertoire includes leading roles in Italian, French and Russian. He performed with Teatro Lirico on its winter 2006 U.S. tour as Alfredo in LA TRAVIATA and Rodolfo in LA BOHÈME. This season he returns as Edgardo in LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR and again sings Rodolfo and the Duke in RIGOLETTO.

RAFAEL DAVILA (Alfredo)
Tenor, Rafael Davila, made his Italian debut in 2003 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples as Riccardo in Verdi’s UN BALLO IN MASCHERA. For the New Zealand Opera, he appeared as Don José in CARMEN and Alfredo in LA TRAVIATA. With the Sarasota Opera in Florida, Mr. Davila has sung the title role in WERTHER, as well as Canio in PAGLIACCI, Turiddu in CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA, Foresto in Verdi’s ATTILA and Cavaradossi in TOSCA. In 2010 he will return to Sarasota Opera to sing the role of King Charles VII in Verdi’s GIOVANNA D’ ARCO.

For Opera de Puerto Rico, Mr. Davila has sung the roles of Pinkerton in MADAMA BUTTERFLY, Edgardo in LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, Alfredo in LA TRAVIATA and Rinuccio in GIANNI SCHICCHI. For the Fundación de Zarzuela y Opereta de Puerto Rico, he sang Alfredo in Johann Strauss’s DIE FLEDERMAUS, as well as Leonardo in the Cuban zarzuela CECILIA VALDÉS, Javier in LUISA FERNANDA and Camille in THE MERRY WIDOW. Last year marked his debut in the role of Calaf in TURANDOT for Connecticut Grand Opera, as well as for Dicapo Opera in New York City. Mr. Davila created the role of Ignacio in the opera TIME AND AGAIN for the Barelas, New Mexico, world premiere with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, under Guillermo Figueroa.

Mr. Davila has also appeared with Opera du Montréal, National Lyric Opera of New York, Teatro de la Puerto Rico, San Antonio Opera, Opera Tampa, Austin Lyric Opera, Fort Worth Opera and Opera Roanoke, as Pinkerton in MADAMA BUTTERFLY, the Duke of Mantua in RIGOLETTO, Alfredo in LA TRAVIATA, Cassio in OTELLO and Narraboth in SALOME, among others. Mr. Davila sang Mozart’s roles of Tamino in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE and Belmonte in DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERIAL, in Salzburg, Steyr and Attersee, Austria.

Mr. Davila's concert experience includes Verdi’s REQUIEM, Berlioz’ BEATRICE ET BENEDICT, Mahler’s DAS LIED VON DER ERDE and Beethoven’s NINTH SYMPHONY with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra. He has also sung Mozart’s CORONATION MASS with soprano June Anderson and in Antonio Estévez’ CANTANTA CRIOLLA with The Seattle Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Gerard Schwarz. Other works in his répertoire include Rossini’s STABAT MATER, Mozart’s REQUIEM, Handel’s MESSIAH, Bach’s MAGNIFICAT, Charpentier’s MESSE DE MINUIT POUR NOËL and MAGNIFICAT, MISA CRIOLLA and NAVIDAD NUESTRA by Ariel Ramírez, and the world premieres of MISA JÍBARA by Nicolás Aponte and ANGLICAN REQUIEM by Ignacio Morales Nieva. Mr. Davila's recording of Misa Criolla was nominated for a Grammy Award.

PETER DANAILOV (Giorgio Germont)
Bulgarian baritone, Peter Danailov, graduated from the Vladiguerov State Music Academy in Bulgaria in 1995 and made his first stage appearances in Varna and Burgas, Bulgaria. Since then, he has become a regular soloist at the Sofia National Opera House. In 2000, he won first prize at the Boris Christoff International Competition. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Danailov was a leading baritone soloist at the Opera Theatre in Bonn, where he sang the title role of MACBETH. He was also featured there in Janacek’s FROM THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD, Verdi’s LA FORZA DEL DESTINO and Tchaikovsky’s EUGENE ONEGIN. Before that, he was in a production of Rossini’s THE BARBER OF SEVILLE directed by Dario Fo in Munich and London.

Recently, Mr. Danailov has sung Germont in LA TRAVIATA and Sharpless in MADAMA BUTTERFLY at the Staatsoper in Hamburg. For seven consecutive seasons, he has been a guest soloist in Klagenfurt, Austria, singing Rodrigo in DON CARLO, Marcello in LA BOHÈME, Taddeo in L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI, Ashton in LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, and Germont in LA TRAVIATA. At the Toscana Festival in Italy, he took part in LA TRAVIATA, PAGLIACCI, CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA, IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA AND CARMEN. He is also a frequent guest artist at the Auditorium of Palma de Mallorca. Last September, Mr. Danailov sang the role of Baron Scarpia in TOSCA at the National Opera House of Kishnau, Moldova, and the title role in Verdi’s RIGOLETTO at the Asta Opera Theatre in Malta.

Mr. Danailov’s concert répertoire includes Orff’s CARMINA BURANA, Bach’s ST. MATTHEW PASSION and BRAHMS’ REQUIEM. He has recorded with Bulgarian National Radio and Television.

PLAMEN DIMITROV (Dr. Grenville) Bulgarian baritone, Plamen Dimitrov, has performed various roles with Teatro Lirico on tour in the United States during the last five seasons, including Schaunard in LA BOHÈME, Morales in CARMEN, and PING in TURANDOT. He debuted in the role of Sharpless in MADAMA BUTTERFLY and Dr. Grenville in LA TRAVIATA with Teatro on its eighth season of U.S. tours during the 2007-2008 season and has continued to perform with the company on tour in the United States as well as in Bulgaria with Sofia National Opera and Opera Varna.

VIARA ZHELEZOVA (FLORA)
Bulgarian mezzo-soprano, Viara Zhelezova, made her debut with Baltimore Opera Theatre as Rosina in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA in November 2009 and was highly praised by opera critics of the BALTIMORE SUN and OperaOnline.us. Ms. Zhelezova graduated from the Bulgarian National Conservatory of Music and joined the roster of the Bulgarian National Opera, where she has performed leading mezzo roles alongside such singers as Ghena Dimitrova, Nicolai Giuselev and Anna Tomova Sintova. She has appeared as a guest artist with opera companies throughout Eastern and Western Europe, including singing the role of Orlofsky in Czech Opera Prague’s DIE FLEDERMAUS. In the United States, Ms. Zhelezova has performed the roles of Carmen in Bizet’s masterpiece, Rosina in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, Zerlina in DON GIOVANNI, Cherubino in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, Suzuki in MADAMA BUTTERFLY and Prince Orlofsky in DIE FLEDERMAUS, to outstanding critical acclaim.

HRISTO SARAFOV (Baron Duphol)
Mr. Sarafov has been active on the stage for his entire adult life as a soloist in operetta, opera and as an actor. After graduation from the National Academy of Music in Sofia in Bulgaria, he was immediately engaged by the Sofia National Opera for the role of Bartolo in Rossini's IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA. Mr. Sarafov has performed numerous roles with Teatro Lirico D'Europa, worldwide, since 1990.

KRASSIMIR TOPOLOV (Conductor) The young Bulgarian maestro was educated in Vienna. In addition to conducting hundreds of performances for Teatro Lirico D'Europa on tour in central Europe and the United States since 1995, he is a guest conductor with opera companies in Bulgaria and other Eastern European countries.

GIORGIO LALOV (Artistic Director/Stage Director) Giorgio Lalov studied at the Young Artists School of La Scala, Milan, where he made his debut at the age of 25. He has staged hundreds of operas worldwide since 1986 and makes his home in the United States. Mr. Lalov speaks a number of European languages fluently and is able to stage his multi-national cast productions without the use of a translator.

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Synopsis of the Opera

Act I. Violetta’s house, August 1847, Paris. A party is being given at the house of the city’s most beautiful and adored courtesan, Violetta Valéry. She greets her guests, among them Flora Bervoix, the Marquis D’Obigny, Baron Douphol and Doctor Grenvil. Gastone introduces Alfredo Germont to Violetta, and the young man tells Violetta that he admires her and thinks of her constantly. Gastone proposes a toast, and Alfredo responds with a drinking song. When the guests move into the ballroom to dance, Violetta feels indisposed and begs her guests to go on without her. Alfredo remains behind and declares how much he loves her. She tells him she can only offer friendship. She gives him a flower, asking him to return when it has faded. Alone, she thinks about Alfredo, but resolves to enjoy herself and her whirlwind lifestyle.

Act II. Scene I. A country house near Paris the following November. Alfredo and Violetta have been living together in the country for three months, when Alfredo learns from Annina that Violetta has been selling her possessions to support them. Disgraced, he rushes off to Paris to get money. Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont, surprises Violetta with a visit and requests that she leave Alfredo, because his sister may have trouble marrying if her brother is linked to a courtesan. Violetta confesses that Alfredo’s love has redeemed her, and that she is very sick and might not live long. Germont is unmoved and insists on a definite separation. Violetta finally agrees to make the sacrifice and only begs that, after she dies, Alfredo should know the reason she left him. She writes a letter and, when Alfredo returns, says good-bye. He assumes she will only be gone for a short while, but a messenger delivers the letter announcing that she has returned to her former lover. Alfredo’s father tries to comfort his son, but to no avail.

Scene 2. A room in Flora’s house, later that day. Violetta’s friend Flora is hosting a party. Alfredo’s arrival startles the guests, but his disinterest in Violetta garners approval. He joins a game of cards as Violetta and her lover, Baron Douphol, enter. The Baron challenges Alfredo and promptly loses. The guests disperse when dinner is announced. Violetta returns to warn Alfredo that his life is in danger and that he should leave the party. He agrees to go only if she follows him. Remembering her oath to his father, Violetta refuses and, furious, Alfredo calls the guests to witness that he has paid her back for their time together. His father arrives and denounces his son for such shameful behavior, and Douphol vows to avenge Violetta.

Act III. Violetta’s bedroom. Violetta lies on her deathbed, knowing she will not live much longer. She reads a letter from Alfredo’s father, relating how Alfredo fled the country after wounding Douphol in a duel, but promising that he will return to seek her pardon. When Alfredo enters the bedroom, the two reunite joyfully and dream of living in Paris, but Violetta collapses. Alfredo’s father arrives and asks forgiveness for the pain he has caused the lovers. Violetta presses a miniature portrait of herself into Alfredo’s hands, telling him to give it to the pure bride whom he will marry one day. Violetta suddenly feels that her pains have ceased and that she is coming back to life. But it is too late… she dies in Alfredo’s arms.

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VERDI AND LA TRAVIATA:
A VERY PERSONAL STORY
By Mary Jane Phillips-Matz

Giuseppe Verdi was born in 1813 in the living quarters over his parents’ little village tavern in Italy’s Po River valley. In spite of their modest circumstances, his parents gave him a solid classical education, and, after realizing that he had a great gift for music, they added private lessons in that field as well. When Verdi was 18, he went to Milan for further study, but he later returned to Busseto, the market town near his birthplace. There he married his patron’s daughter, but she and their two children soon died, leaving him a stricken young widower in 1840.

Verdi’s first opera had been given in 1839 at La Scala, one of the world’s greatest opera houses, and it was followed three years later by his Nabucco, a hit on the national and international scene. As Verdi said, “After Nabucco I never had to look for work again.” In the course of a career that lasted more than 50 years, he wrote 28 operas, gained worldwide fame, and became rich.

He also had a sterling record as a patriot in the long struggle for the unification of Italy, so several of his early operas had Italian patriotic themes. His people elected him to public office twice, first in 1859 as a Deputy to the Parma Legislature and then two years later to the First Parliament of Italy. His other principal interests were philanthropy and his farm, a huge estate near the Po. Verdi lived to be almost 87 and died in 1901.

Many of his early works are set in long-ago eras. Their main characters are kings, queens, and powerful nobles, but after 1849, the composer changed course and wrote Stiffelio (1850) and La Traviata (1853), two intensely personal operas based on recent real events. Both are about “fallen women” of his time. Lina, the leading soprano in Stiffelio, is the adulterous wife of a German Protestant minister who, according to tradition, lived in the early 1800s. Violetta in La Traviata is based on the life of a real and notorious French courtesan who had died in the 1840s.

The “original” behind Violetta was Marguerite Gautier, whose story had been told by Alexandre Dumas fils, one of her lovers, in a novel and a play called La Dame aux Camélias. Living in Italy when he did, Verdi showed enormous courage in writing about a disgraced woman who was more or less his contemporary. And it was natural that when people learned about his plans for La Traviata, many considered it scandalous. Felice Varesi, a very famous baritone, was outraged because “the main character is a kept woman or common whore of our own time who died in Paris not very long ago.” In another letter, Varesi called Violetta “this unhappy prostitute.” Verdi, however, was not discouraged. In fact, he went right ahead, pouring compassion and humanity into his portrayal of her and showing how brutally and hypocritically “proper society” treated her.

As we look back on La Traviata, we may see it through the lens of Verdi’s private life, for when he decided to write it, he had been living for about three years with someone whom many people considered a “fallen woman.” This was the celebrated soprano Giuseppina Strepponi (1815-1897), who had a distinguished career but had lived a scandal-ridden personal life, having had three (or even four) illegitimate children by two or three different fathers. Hard up for cash, Strepponi sang right to the end of every pregnancy, with one of her children being born in Florence only a few hours after she finished a performance! Although she abandoned her children in orphanages or placed them with foster parents, everyone who knew about opera remembered these events.

Verdi originally met Strepponi in Milan, probably in 1839 at La Scala. Three years later, she sang the leading soprano role in Nabucco there and was partly responsible for getting it produced. In 1847, after she retired from the stage, she and Verdi began living together in Paris. There no one cared about their personal lives, but in 1849 they foolishly and recklessly returned to Busseto, the small town where Verdi had been educated on scholarships, had married his patron’s daughter, and had worked as the municipal music teacher. The townspeople of Busseto honestly believed they had “made Verdi,” and they were simply enraged at seeing him and his mistress living together in a mansion on the main street.

Nearly two years of uproar followed their return, with people throwing rocks at Verdi’s windows and shouting obscenities at him and Strepponi from the sidewalk below. People also crossed the street to avoid her and moved away from her in church, and one neighbor even called the police, saying that a lot of noise was coming from Verdi’s courtyard. Infuriated at such harassment, Verdi and Strepponi moved to a nearby farm that he owned; they lived there until their deaths.

Given these facts, many see a personal association between Verdi’s life and his decision to write about Violetta and La Traviata. Others, though, see no connection, and the matter remains unresolved. What is certain is that Verdi once said that when he sat at his piano writing music, his heart pounded and his tears fell on the keyboard. Seeing how much passion he poured into La Traviata, we can easily believe him.

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