[Met Performance] CID:143830
La Traviata {288} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/29/1947.
(Review)
Metropolitan Opera House
January 29, 1947
LA TRAVIATA {288}
Giuseppe Verdi--Francesco Maria Piave
Violetta................Florence Quartararo
Alfredo.................James Melton
Germont.................Lawrence Tibbett
Flora...................Thelma Votipka
Gastone.................Alessio De Paolis
Baron Douphol...........George Cehanovsky
Marquis D'Obigny........John Baker
Dr. Grenvil.............William Hargrave
Annina..................Thelma Altman
Dance...................Audrey Keane
Dance...................Peggy Smithers
Conductor...............Cesare Sodero
Review signed J. D. B. in the Herald Tribune
Florence Quartararo Sings Role of Violetta
Melton Is Alfredo and Tibbett Is Germont in "Traviata"
The repetition of Verdi's "Traviata" at the Metropolitan Opera House last night brought with it the first appearance here of Florence Quartararo as Violetta. The young soprano assumed this arduous role with only six hours notice in order to replace the indisposed Bidu Sayao, originally scheduled to appear therein. James Melton was heard for the first time this season as Alfredo, and Lawrence Tibbett contributed his first Germont of the season. William Hargrave sang his first Doctor Grenvil. The otherwise familiar cast included the Misses Votipka and Altman and Mr. De Paolis, Mr. Cehanovsky and Mr. Baker. Mr. Sodero conducted.
Miss Quartararo is potentially a first-rate Violetta, for her voluptuous soprano voice is a fine medium for the expression of the impassioned music Verdi penned for this role. But her want of a reliable vocal technique inhibited her from making the most of her native gifts last night. A certain amount of nervousness is of course unavoidable when singing such a taxing role for the first time on this stage; but had Miss Quartararo's schooling been more solidly grounded her delivery of "Sempre libera" in the first act would not have been the hit-or-miss kind of vocalism it emerged as. She has the essential flexibility for the florid passages of this aria, but her spread manner of tonal projection and faulty breathing caused her to sag from the true pitch on her highest tones. Her work improved, however, as the opera progressed, and her warmth of feeling and the native beauty of the voice enabled her to sing much of her music affectingly.
Mr. Melton sang his music, including the second-act aria, "Di mie bollenti spriti," confidently, but with "white" tonal investiture and Mr. Tibbett's singing of Germont's music was much the same as it has been during recent seasons and does not require further comment.