This, of course, is the classic performance that cleared the TV schedules and launched Gheorghiu to super-stardom. Now the glamour of the occasion has receded a little, the performance can be assessed as a whole. It still stands up extremely well. The 29-year-old remains a gripping heroine, remarkably beautiful personally and vocally, characterised with an appropriately febrile, nervy intensity. Recording emphasises the beat in her voice, and some unsteadiness under pressure, as at the end of ‘Sempre libera’, but her sheer beauty of tone overrides such nitpicking. The other star is Solti, in his first Traviata, underpinning her passion with his own, combining tautly propulsive rhythmic control with a clarity and melting tenderness, brought out in excellent orchestral playing.
Other performers don’t quite reach this level. Alfredo in these pre-Alagna days is Frank Lopardo, also a handsome presence with a fine but rather nasal tone and stiff delivery, his manner occasionally a touch arrogant. Nucci is a vocally unsteady and rather lacklustre Germont, but the lesser roles could use his Italianate authority. The chorus is in good voice. The superb DVD picture captures the shadowy richness of Richard Eyre’s straightforward production but can’t disguise the functional stage set. The surround soundtrack is disappointingly boomy; the stereo track much crisper.
This knocks spots off its only DVD rival, the tacky La Fenice staging under Carlo Rizzi with Edita Gruberova’s uncharismatic Violetta. The Glyndebourne video (Universal) not yet on DVD, offers a deeper production, but it still can’t match this for excitement