ON STAGE
What: Pacific Opera Victoria presents La聽traviata
Where: Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton St.
When: Feb. 14 through Feb. 24
Tickets: $27-$144, from the Royal McPherson box office, by phone at 250-386-6121, or online at
It has been an eventful road to opening night for the team behind Pacific Opera Victoria鈥檚 production of La traviata.
A dress rehearsal planned for Monday night at the Royal Theatre was cancelled due to snow, and the constant threat of inhospitable driving conditions prompted Pacific Opera Victoria artistic director Timothy Vernon, who lives near Sidney, to hunker down at the Chateau Victoria hotel 鈥� just steps from the stage door 鈥� for the weekend.
Cancelling a full dress rehearsal with orchestra is unusual, given the associated costs and hours spent in preparation, but the decision was out of the hands of Pacific Opera Victoria, Vernon said.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to shut it down arbitrarily,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut this weather was something else.鈥�
A dress rehearsal went off without a hitch on Tuesday, so La traviata, which is being staged through Feb. 24, is expected to be in top shape for opening night tonight.
According to Vernon, who will conduct the Victoria Symphony for each performance, Giuseppe Verdi was at his peak when La traviata premi猫red in 1853, and the cast of the Pacific Opera Victoria co-production, which is performed in Italian with English surtitles, know what is expected of them.
鈥淓very time you have a new cast, it adds a complete dimension,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about adjusting to what Verdi asked for.鈥�
Vernon is very familiar with La聽traviata, a story built around the character of Violetta Val茅ry, a Parisienne courtesan who takes up with an unpredictable suitor, Alfredo Germont (theirs is a scandalous union, at first, played to full dramatic effect.)
Vernon has been associated with 鈥渉undreds鈥� of La traviata productions over the years, after serving as the music director for several tours by the Canadian Opera Company during the late 1970s. 鈥淚 did so many of them, they are on the hard drive forever,鈥� Vernon said with a laugh. 鈥淭he notes on the page don鈥檛 necessarily change, but how they live in the air does. Every singer has a particular pacing.鈥�
Pacific Opera Victoria鈥檚 new co-production of La traviata differs from all the rest, however.
A joint venture of the Victoria company and Manitoba Opera, Edmonton Opera, Vancouver Opera and Op茅ra de Montreal, La traviata marks the first-ever collaboration involving five professional Canadian opera companies, one that is being spread over three seasons. The companies have their own casts, but share responsibilities such as wardrobe and sets.
Manitoba Opera and Edmonton Opera staged their productions in 2018. The Victoria version lands smack dab in the middle of the run, with Vancouver Opera鈥檚 production due later this year and Op茅ra de Montr茅al鈥檚 version set for 2020. 鈥淲e mutually put some resources into the thing to give it some scope,鈥� Vernon said.
Pacific Opera Victoria has seen several of its in-house productions mounted by other companies in the past, but a co-production such as this is immense. Vernon was energized by the idea, despite the heavy workload for all involved. He likes to keep things fresh. 鈥淢usic shouldn鈥檛 be automatic. It should be alive and alert.鈥�
The two Canadian leads (soprano Lucia Cesaroni and tenor Colin Ainsworth) are making their role debuts in La traviata, playing Violetta Val茅ry and Alfredo Germont for the first time in their careers, with direction from Alain Gauthier. Cesaroni, 鈥渁 rising star鈥� in the words of Vernon, has the tougher role to manage (鈥淰ioletta is like Mt. Everest for a soprano,鈥� Vernon said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge thing to climb.鈥�) but he鈥檚 excited for audiences to watch Ainsworth grow into his role.
鈥淔or somebody who is going to sing Verdi, it鈥檚 the beginning, because it鈥檚 a young tenor part that is not overwritten, with some dramatic moments. It鈥檚 not one-dimensional at all.鈥�
Pacific Opera Victoria鈥檚 previous production of La traviata, in 2009, was set on Christmas Eve in 1950s Paris. This week鈥檚 production is set amid the roaring 1920s. No matter the era, La traviata never loses its appeal with modern audiences, Vernon said.
鈥淰erdi wanted La traviata to be contemporary and set in the modern eras of the time. He wanted it to be of the now, so it always remains relevant.鈥�
