On the final weekend of April, San Diego Opera (SDO) concluded its 2024–2025 season with three performances of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata.” It’s quite appropriate that the company ended its triumphant 60th season with a production of the most-performed opera in the world. Having performed in this opera myself last year, but never seen it live, I was excited to see this production.
The closing show of “La Traviata” was the fourth SDO performance I’ve seen during the last three seasons. I thoroughly enjoyed all three previous productions I watched, finding very little to criticize in terms of artistry, beauty, and, most importantly, traditionalism. While “La Traviata” also had many of these qualities, I was surprised by some aspects of the production….