Event

Becoming Traviata

Famed soprano Natalie Dessay stars in this amazing behind-the-scenes documentary about her
brilliant production of Verdi's classic opera

The reinvention of Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece, La Traviata, as sung by worldfamous French coloratura soprano Natalie Dessay, is the subject of this thrilling new movie. A modern, minimalist, post-punk approach strips away the opulence and grandiosity associated with operatic productions. Concentrating on director Jean-François Sivadier's working relationship with Dessay, the film reveals how two great creative minds build the story of a doomed love affair. The stars rehearse in what look like yoga outfits, on a bare stage, with minimal props. The final production, set against a backdrop of sky and clouds, punctuated by a single chandelier, features Violetta and Alfredo (a darkly gorgeous Charles Castronovo) as the very essence of hipster-chic. Their passion, however, is for the ages. With music performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Louis Langrée. (France, 2012, 112 mins., color, In English, French, and Italian with English subtitles, DCP / Director: Philippe Bézait / Starring: Natalie Dessay, Charles Castronovo /Opera directed by Jean-François Sivadier / Musical Direction by Louis Langrée / Music by the London Symphony Orchestra)

"Riveting. A perfect marriage of theater and music. An electric reimaging of the title role. Dessay's thesping sweeps the viewer along (Her) quicksilver absorption of Sivadier's suggestions, her gestures full of quivering, ecstatic energy, lends the docu immediacy, her performance almost leaping to the rafters The process of creating, moment by moment, the extraordinary figure of Dessay's doomed Violetta dominates here." Ronnie Scheib, Variety

"Outstanding, subtle and inventive. Illuminates beautifully the famous opera and its main character Violetta." Le Monde