La traviata

I fell in love with Anna Moffo's voice in her recording of La Rondine which I subsequently gave to a friend. Just discovered this video on Amazon Prime. This is my second viewing in the past three weeks. Besides her voice she was a spectacularly beautiful woman, sometimes almost ethereally so depending on the lighting. The duet with Germont in which she lies back on the chaise is sufficient proof of her stunning (a word I rarely use) beauty. A friend is wondering what to watch as a 'first' opera. Am going to suggest this one (I think La Traviata was my third. My first was Mirella Freni as Marguerite in Faust at Covent Garden.). One can only wonder what she could have done had she not worn her voice out at a relatively young age. But, this is a wonderful video because of Moffo's glorious singing, acting, and beauty.

This La Traviata is an absolute dream. While I may prefer the Zeffirelli film, I do prefer Violetta here. La Traviata is one of my all-time favourite operas, I adore the music in it and the story and characters are timeless.

Visually this 1968 version is absolutely stunning. The costumes are colourful and pretty without being too fluttery, the sets are lavish and the photography is exquisite. The music is sublime and superbly performed and conducted, the story maintains its emotional punch and the direction is excellent.

Franco Bonisolli is a wholly adequate Alfredo, great voice if somewhat stolid sometimes in his acting. Gino Becchi is a suitably intelligent and sympathetic Germont and has shows some nice, distinguished singing. The best thing about this is Anna Moffo as Violetta, simply put she is one of the best Violettas I've seen, right from Brindisi up to the final scene she IS Violetta, her colouratura and range are wondrous, her acting is often heart breaking and she is also a very beautiful woman.

Overall, one of the best Violettas in one of the best Traviatas, in my opinion. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Opera films generally remember and praise the excellent 1982 film version of LA TrAVIATA directed by Franco Zefirelli and starring Plácido Domingo and Teresa Stratas, but few know about this version from the 50's to early 70's.

And it's such a pity as this version features perhaps the best Violetta Valery ever in the stunningly beautiful and talented Anna Moffo, an Italian-American soprano who made her mark in the 60's to early 70's.

The late Moffo's rare combination of beautiful voice, great musical instincts, topnotch acting and gorgeous movie star looks truly made her ideal for this role of all roles for sopranos. In scenes like the Brindisi drinking song sequence, she practically IS Violetta, as composer Guiseppe Verdi must have imagined her! This version obviously does not have the ostentatious and sumptuous look of Zefirelli's version, but the costumes and sets are realistic all the same. The tenor Franco Bonisolli and baritone Gino Bechi are also good in their roles of Alfredo and Germont, though admittedly not as great as the fabulous Plácido Domingo or the veteran Cornell McNeill.

But it is Moffo who is clearly the reason to watch this film. We don't have a filmed version of a Callas performance, and Stratas in the Zefirelli movie looked and acted well, but her singing in that film was unfortunately not up to par for this important role, as she was supposed to have been not in top vocal health when she recorded the music.

Yes, there havebeen legendary sopranos like Renata Tebaldi, Joan Sutherland, Beverley Sills, Monsterrat Caballé, etc. who may have given great musical performances as Violetta, but they were not the actresses that Moffois, to say nothing of Moffo's obvious advantage in being visually believable as a beautiful woman who was the toast of Paris.

The exciting Anna Netrebko is a rising star now, but musically, I still think Moffo (and many other sopranos) are superior.

For the total package, and a performance available on film, this version features the best Violetta of all.